Thief
by SteamyxhotTub
Summary: "I am a THIEF, not a MURDERER; thank you very much!" Harry becomes a thief out of boredom and curiosity leading to him becoming a master thief, so when the time comes for him to start going to Hogwarts, things turn a little... different. Depictions of rape/non-con and child abuse, Harry/Male Harem, yaoi, don't like yaoi/slash, don't read
1. Prologue

**Steamy: So, apparently I am a masochist, as I have started another colossal fic that will without a doubt kill me from the burden of it, but maybe I'll be able to do both this and** _ **Naruto: Player 2**_ **as the main reason I have had trouble continuing that story is because Harry Potter was on the brain.**

 **Also, quick warning, this story is going to be... interesting.**

 **Harry isn't so much going to be OP as he is going to be extremely curious and determined, he has a natural want to learn in this story and that means absolutely everything he thinks would be useful, you'll understand more later, and also, this story is going to have, very scant, traces of an American TV show called Leverage, which is a show of a ragtag team of thieves who steal from corrupt business people in order to help others (I recommend it, it's really good) I'll explain more at the end of the story.**

 **Now, onto the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter cast or books/movies and anything that might belong to other people**

 **Thief**

 **Prologue**

Harry James Potter wouldn't have had much to live for before he received his Hogwarts letter.

He was, after all, viewed as nothing more than a slave, worse even; according to the Dursley's, Harry was less than everyone and everything else, a Freak, nothing more and everything less.

Harry was well aware of this fact, after all, every time he tried to do something nice for the Dursley's or to garner their affections they would always turn him down in the most cruel way they could; like that time his Aunt tore up his Valentine's Day card that he had worked so hard on right in front of him, or that other time when he had tried his hardest to get the best grades in class, thinking that maybe they would be proud of him.

But, of course they weren't. Dudley even went as far to say that Harry had done it to make him look stupid and Harry had gotten one of the worst beatings of his short life.

So, Harry didn't try hard anymore, he just tried to keep out of everyone's way and remain unnoticed, just like a slave should.

But staying quiet and out of the way was boring and led to a lot of time spent thinking and honing the only abilities he had, which were, of course, cooking and cleaning and gardening and being extremely light on his feet so that he wouldn't be unnecessarily detected by his relatives or anyone for that matter. He also worked on his other skills, the ones that his relatives didn't quite know about, like his reading level or the fact that he was actually teaching himself how to speak French and German, or how he would sometimes offer his services to people in other neighborhoods which led to him having quite a bit of money hidden safely within his cupboard.

His life wasn't much, but he just kept on telling himself that one day, when he was of legal age, he would do his best to make something of himself, be more than what his parents were and what his relatives have told him he is.

That all changed, however, when he was seven.

He had been at school and his class was just about to head out for recess, when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something on the floor.

He crouched down and picked it up, looking it over and recognizing it as a toy Dudley had "borrowed" from one of the boys in the class a few days beforehand.

Knowing that Dudley, and by extension his Uncle, would have his hide for even touching the toy Harry swiftly placed it in his bag so that he wouldn't be caught with it. He resolved to give it back to his classmate later.

And then, just as he was entering the playground someone rushed by him, and something else caught Harry's eye, namely a pair of gloves in the child's back pocket. Out of curiosity the green-eyed boy reached out and took them, not realizing that this was happening within a single second, or that the other child was running pretty fast as he was doing it, and took the gloves and examined them.

They were black and green and were made from what felt like to Harry from wool, they looked comfortable and warm, but Harry daren't put them on, not wanting to get in trouble, so, he made to put the gloves back where he got them when he paused, blinked a moment in confusion, then snapped his neck up when he realized that the owner of the gloves were already on the playground, completely oblivious to the fact that their gloves had been stolen.

Harry didn't know what to do with himself, internally freaking out and coming up with all sorts of horrible scenarios that would occur when he was found to have taken the gloves, which then led him to stuffing them in his bag out of sight, calming himself down and telling himself that he would return them after school.

The rest of the day went by normally, the only difference being that Harry felt a lot more anxious than usual. Then, the last bell rung and everyone left the building.

Harry slowly made his way to his and Dudley's things, already knowing that Uncle Vernon was there to pick up the larger boy and take him home while Harry had to lug the larger and heavier backpack with him back with him to the house.

Harry sighed and looked inside the bag, knowing that he would find stolen snacks inside and stealthily made his way to the teacher's lounge and put all of the stolen snacks back, thankful that this was the one thing Dudley never called him out for as he couldn't justifying stealing from the teacher's or the school, at least he thought he couldn't, though Harry had no doubt his parents would gobble it right up and somehow make it right (probably by blaming Harry) and allow for him to continue on.

Harry shook the thought from his mind and then made his way to the Dursley household, planning on making two quick stops on the way.

First he dropped off the toy, which he carefully stuffed into the other boys' bag while he was distracted then he made his way to the house of the owner of the gloves.

Harry carefully took off the backpacks, hid them, and then crawled up to the house. After looking around a bit and listening to make certain no one was nearby, Harry then crawled through the doggy-door attached to the bright red wooden door.

Once inside Harry heard the voice of an adult and child talking to each other, the child sounded distressed and Harry was fairly certain he knew why; so, without further ado Harry swiftly located the child's school backpack and placed the gloves inside, then, he left the way he came.

Just as he walked down the steps Harry heard the happy exclamations of the child as they announced that they had found the gloves.

Harry smiled to himself before grabbing his two backpacks and made his way back to his relatives' house.

It wasn't until he was lying in his cupboard that he realized what he had done.

He had successfully infiltrated and returned something without anyone discovering him; it was like he was a thief! Or a reverse thief in this case as he hadn't taken anything.

He was suddenly struck with the idea that he should _become_ a thief! After all, he reasoned with himself, it wasn't like he had much else to do, nothing to do but slaving away under people who would never appreciate it and would even punish him just because they felt like it, and, according to his Aunt and Uncle, his parents had been good-for-nothings so why not flip the trend and become something worthwhile?

That night, something within Harry James Potter changed, and, he became a thief.

As if it would be that easy.

First he had to learn how to hone his aptitude for stealth, and his knack to steal things without being noticed, after that, he decided, he needed to be able to swiftly get away and be able to blend into a crowd and be able to climb things and, and-!

He took a breath and let it out slowly, no, he needed to be calm and logical about this; if he panicked then he could just throw this idea right out the metaphorical window, no, he needed to think with a clear mind, he needed to-

 _ ***Crack***_

He was startled out of his thoughts both from the noise and from the fact that he was now lying on his back when he had just moments before been sitting upright, leaning against the back of his cupboard.

Blinking his eyes in confusion for a moment he forced his body still as he let his eyes take in what was around him. The first thing his eyes took in was the ceiling, which looked partially jagged, _' the stairs,'_ his mind helpfully supplied, but the rest of it was wooded-and dusty-and looked to be the support flooring of the second floor with an occasional wooden beam helping to hold it up.

A cough was soon followed by a groan as Harry pulled himself up so that he could take in the rest of the small space.

The ground was concrete and just as dusty as the ceiling; the walls were also made of concrete; coughing again Harry brought his shirt up to his nose to cover it so that he wouldn't suffocate from the overabundance of dust floating around him as he looked around some more.

A bit more of searching led to him finding a rather large hole in one of the walls, and, after using a shirt to cover the opening and grabbing a torch that he had stashed underneath the cupboards floorboards he ventured further into the house.

The hole was larger than he was, it could probably hold his cousin Dudley and his Aunt Petunia, if she slouched down some that is, and maybe a third of his Uncle Vernon, though he wasn't sure on that one, he was fairly small after all so it was likely that it only looked large to him because of that. Shaking his head of such thoughts Harry continued on, making several turns here and there before, _***Bam***_ , he hit something metal.

Rubbing his head Harry used his torch to shine light on the object and realized that it was an air vent, specifically, it was the air vent that was attached to the parlor near the front door; it was just behind a settee so no one would be able to see it! With a grin the boy started to push at the grate, hoping that it would give and that he would be able to get out-he was lucky that the Dursley's had decided to eat out that night as he no doubt would have been detected already and severely punished for breaking the wall, even though no one would have ever seen it.

A couple more minutes of pushing and the grate jiggled open, allowing for Harry to push it up and crawl out of it. He had to crawl under the settee as well but after that he was free and standing in the middle of the parlor.

Harry stood there for a moment, smiling in contentment and peace for a little but, then, he took a deep breath and then started to attempt to hack up his lungs, as he had quite forgotten that he was covered in dust. After coughing for about a minute he was able to regain control of his lungs and calm his beating heart, thinking, _' I'll need to clean up so that nobody finds out about this,'_ he let out a short sneeze then made his way over to his cupboard, looking at the lock on the door, wondering if he would be able to pick it open... Well, only one way to find out.

He made his way around the house in search of something he could use to pick the lock, knowing that the actual key was somewhere on his Uncle's person and so he wouldn't be able to use that. After some searching he was able to find a small crochet hook and a small pocket knife (which he found in Dudley's room; that was a scary sight for sure) and then made his way back to the cupboard and attempted to pick the lock.

It took him awhile, but, finally, he was able to unlock it. A small noise of excitement sounded from Harry's throat as he heard the lock click and fall open; he then opened the door and gathered the cleaning supplies but before he cleaned up the mess of dust he went into the kitchen and cleaned himself off so that he wouldn't trail dust everywhere. After that he went about cleaning everything of dust finishing within the little room right inside the cupboards wall; after that he went over to the grate covering the air vent and fiddled with it so that it wouldn't make any noise when he opened it; he also moved the settee a couple inches forward so that it would be easier to open the grate, then he fixed up the hole in the cupboard so that it couldn't be seen but also made it easily removable and then finally he put everything back in the cupboard where it belonged and closed and locked the door.

He was just about to go through the vent to get back to bed when his stomach growled loudly.

A soft sigh left his lips; he hadn't eaten anything since four days ago...

Making up his mind Harry headed into the kitchen and made up a quick, small, meal that he ate quickly, didn't want to be caught out of the cupboard after all, and, with a sigh of content, he finished his food and made his way to the vent.

Only to stop dead in his tracks at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.

Harry's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and his breathing suddenly became labored, no! He couldn't be caught! Not now! Acting quickly he made a dash for the parlor and crawled under the settee and opened the grate and pulled himself in, his heartrate quickened as the lumbering footsteps of his Uncle sounded up the walkway.

He moved through the tunnels as quickly and quietly as possible, forcing his breathing to remain steady so that he couldn't be heard-the front doors lock was just clicking open-then, he was in the small room-the door opened, loud voices echoing off the walls-Harry jumped over to the cover on the hole and carefully made his way through-loud footsteps were getting closer to his cupboard-then, finally-!

The cupboard door opened with a loud bang," get up, freak, and make us some cake!" Vernon's voice boomed out.

Harry carefully crawled out of the cupboard, relief washing over him that he had been able to get back in time.

After he finished feeding the family of three and after going back to bed for the night Harry sightlessly looked at the ceiling, thinking of everything he would need to do in order to become a competent thief.

First, he needed to get better at sneaking around; second, he needed to heighten his senses so that he was completely and fully aware of what was happening in his immediate vicinity; third, he had to work on his pick-pocketing skills; fourth, he had to know how to break into places properly and how to get out without a trace-a trip to the library was in order-fifth, being able to make a fast getaway was always good, and, lastly, he needed to be able to blend into a crowd at any given time.

After coming up with this list Harry went to sleep, looking forward to the day to come.

From the next day onwards Harry worked every moment he had to spare on becoming a thief, he tended to compare himself to Robin Hood in a way, he wasn't going to steal from just anybody after all, he had to be careful with _who_ he stole from and _when_ he did the stealing, which then led to a lot of time spent looking up various wealthy people, blueprints to different buildings (like the library and his school), seeing if there was anyone that was within the list of wealthy people that had multiple people that had a bone to pick with them, and whether or not it was justified.

It took several months of planning; trying and failing before Harry finally got it.

His first intentional, and successful, heist was against an old antique shop, which just so happened to be stealing random heirlooms from people's homes and claiming that they hadn't done anything, having a lot of money to back you up is quite useful.

But, unfortunately for them, Harry targeted them, and that meant that they wouldn't be keeping that money.

He visited the shop a couple times over the course of several days, mapping out the place and conjuring up plans on how to infiltrate it. He found several people who had just been stolen from and were about to sue the shop, and so he was careful to factor that into the plan.

Then, three days later, he broke in.

He took all the money from the vault and several pieces that had been stolen (of course not everything was stolen) before making his way off, but not before leaving the present of the most recent steals being center stage.

The owners were forced to explain why the pieces weren't noted down in the items ledger, like they said they were, or why they had the insignia of the family that was accusing them of theft on it, even though they had sworn that no such insignia existed.

Soon, the combination of having no money and being heavily investigated for multiple accounts of theft, the place had to close and the owners were sent to prison. After that Harry kept most of the money to himself, but he did make sure that all of the stolen heirlooms were returned to their rightful owners, some of which had to be reimbursed as their own pieces had either been sold to some unknown person too long ago or they were damaged/destroyed, Harry just kept most of the money, not all of it.

But that was only Harry's first heist.

From there, Harry continued to do bigger and bigger jobs, never being heard or seen, no one would ever know why things were disappearing from certain places, or who was behind it, but, Harry was fine with that.

He didn't particularly care about recognition, he was used to being ignored for the things he did, and all he cared about was honing his skills and getting better and better, swiftly becoming the best thief in the world.

Stealing was fun, but, to Harry, the best part was when he completely destroyed a corrupt business or group and gave back to the people they hurt; Harry Potter, after all, even under all of that cunning and sarcasm, was an incredibly pure person who hated others hurting, as he knew what it was like to be in pain and have no one to care.

But enough of that; the Dursley's were off vacationing at the beach and other touristic places for several weeks, the house would be nice and quiet with no one to disturb it.

It was time for Harry to go on his next heist... in India!

 **Steamy: the end of the prologue and so on to the first chapter.**

 **All I have to say is that Harry as a thief is based on the "Master Thief" character from Leverage, who is a woman by the name of "Parker" she's a bit crazy, and so will Harry be, but for different reasons, you'll just have to wait for the rest of the story, as it will show you what I mean throughout the rest of it.**

 **I'll get back to you guys next week.**


	2. Of letters and Magic

_**Edit: so, I got a couple reviews commenting mostly about Harry having two wands and the fact that Harry has yet to leave the Dursley household.**_

 _ **Well, not to sound salty because I'm not**_ **(these were actually really good questions that I had for myself but forgot to implement or were going to be implemented in later chapters)** _ **this is literally just the second chapter, and though I know that this chapter is very long, I can't get everything into one chapter, that takes several spread out.**_

 _ **I was planning for the first three-four chapters to be the establishing chapters, allowing for me to get everything out and to set up how the world will work, but it appears as it I have confused a lot of people with this chapter so I decided to mildly change this chapter and add why Harry has two wands right now.**_

 **Steamy: I just wanted everyone to know that I also have an ao3 account (for those of you who don't know, ao3 stands for Archive of our own; another fanfiction site) and will be posting all of my stories there as well. If there ever comes a time where I for some reason can't post here, just know that I have that account under the same name.**

 **Now, moving on, I'm glad that people seem to be interested in this story so far and will work to update as soon as possible, just know that my updating schedule will be weird for this one and I will most likely only post something either every couple weeks or whenever I finish a chapter; this is mainly because I'm trying to get back into the grove of writing my other story and that story is higher priority because it came out first, and because I promised weekly updates, and since I've made no such promises for this story well, yeah, that's that.**

 **Hopefully I will be able to get out chapters fairly quickly, I just happen to be pretty busy in real life so that's why my schedule is gonna be all wonky.**

 **Anyway, onto the-**

 **Review responses:**

 **Geetac: Thank you, I hope you like this chapter**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter cast or books/movies and anything that might belong to other people**

 **Of letters and Magic**

 **[July 24th, 1991]**

Everything changed.

After years upon years of abuse and suffering and bowing his head it has all finally paid off.

Harry's Uncle had told him to go get the mail and as he did he found a letter among them that was addressed to him! It seemed to be something important as it had some type of crest on it, but he hid it within his clothes before he could get a good look at it, he didn't want his Uncle or Aunt, or, god forbid, _Dudley_ to see it and most likely destroy it just to spite him.

' _I'll look at it later,'_ he told himself resolutely as he made his way to the dining room, handing the stack of letters to his Uncle.

The man let out a grunt of displeasure as thanks and waved the brunette away and with a nod of his head Harry did so, moving over to the corner of the room, waiting for the family of three to either finish their meal or ask some other service of him.

It wasn't long before the family finished their breakfast and started getting up from the table and moving to go about their business for the day; luckily for Harry his Uncle had work today, and he himself was scheduled to go to the market and get the groceries, which was all fine with him, it just meant that he didn't have to be in the house for some much needed peace and quiet.

But first, he needed to get on with his after-breakfast chores.

So without further ado the boy quietly went to the table and started cleaning it of dishes and other things such as the butter and jam.

Once everything was put away where it belonged he did the dishes, knowing he had to move quickly if he didn't want to be punished by his Uncle for not being punctual, and by punctual I mean Harry was expected to clear the table and wash the dishes and then get to his cupboard door before his Uncle in order to receive his chore list for the day, if he was too slow he was punished, usually with food deprivation as his Uncle had to be leaving for work by then.

Fortunately for Harry he was able to finish early that day and he got to the cupboard door several minutes before his Uncle. The boy smiled to himself as he rocked on his heels, waiting for his Uncle to come by and shove the list in his face before cuffing him over the head as he left for the day.

As those thoughts flitted about a small hand absentmindedly trailed over the letter hidden beneath baggy clothes as the boy that hand belonged to started musing over what it could contain. Could it be a prank letter from Dudley or one of his friends? No, Harry shook his head, it couldn't be, otherwise Dudley would have been watching him in anticipation at the table, but he hadn't even acknowledged him today, much to Harry's relief, so that one was out. Maybe it was from some sort of school, maybe, and if it was it was probably one for misbehaving children, it wouldn't surprise him if his relatives or his school had decided that they didn't want to bother with him anymore and just get him out of their collective hair.

Shaking his head again Harry sighed; he wouldn't know until he actually read it, though he still had to ponder the wording on the letter….. It seemed a bit too specific for it to be all a hoax; it did, after all, say-

 _Mr. H. Potter, the cupboard under the stairs._

 _4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging_

That was a little too specific for it to be a prank, a little too specific for it to have been a letter from any normal school or even from his relatives; for, while they reveled in his servitude they were also a bit in denial as they basically ignored the fact that Harry lived in the cupboard outside of when he was in there or being sent to it-Harry had come to the conclusion that this was because they didn't want to acknowledge the fact that they were keeping a child in a small supply cupboard, and had done so for basically ten years.

"Where are you looking off to, boy?" Harry nearly jumped out his own skin at the unexpected gruff voice of his Uncle sounding from right next to him.

Harry's body only twitched minutely though and he otherwise didn't outwardly react, a little way he liked to piss his Uncle off, not reacting the way the man wanted him to, and looked up at him meekly, quietly replying,

"Nothing, sir….. " Vernon snorted in disbelief but he left it at that, he had to get going after all.

"Your list for the day," he grunted as a sinister smirk made its way onto his fat face. Harry bowed his head and took the piece of paper while nodding.

Vernon once again snorted but this time he reached over and cuffed Harry over the head, hard enough that the boy lurched forward from the force of it, though he remained upright. The man grunted once more but he didn't bother with the boy, moving on to the front door, calling his goodbyes to his wife and son and saying his share of declarations of affection for the two of them; he might have slipped in a threat for Harry but the green-eyed boy didn't pay it any mind as he went about his chores for the day, an absent thought of Uncle Vernon being incredibly gifted at making lists passing through his head as he did so.

He first went about tending to the garden, since working in it early in the day was better than later as the sun wasn't at its most scorching yet so he was far less likely to be burned by its unforgiving rays. Then after gardening came sweeping, then vacuuming, then the washing of the floors and walls and then finally lunch, after which he had laundry, bedroom and bathroom cleaning mixed in with the preparation of dinner and the arrival of Uncle Vernon and so on and so forth.

But for now, it was time for Harry to make lunch, something of which he did quickly and served to his Aunt and cousin, who of course didn't thank him, though his Aunt did give him another list, this one consisting of the groceries he was to buy-so a pouch of money was also given to him.

"Make certain you get everything on that list, boy! That's dinner for tonight, if you don't or I suspect for an instant that you kept any of the change for yourself, you ungrateful freak, I'll be telling your Uncle and he'll have your worthless hide! Have I made myself clear?"

Harry nodded meekly," yes Aunt Petunia, I understand," he murmured in a demur voice, and, taking the list and pouch, he went first to his cupboard to put on his shoes then out the door, on his way to the nearby market.

A sigh of relief left Harry's lips once he was a block from the house, happy he was able to get out of that house for the time being. A happy skip entered his step as he made his way, a happy little tune vibrating from his throat as he made his way to the market.

On the way there he decided to take a look at that letter, so he pulled the envelope from within the folds of his oversized shirt and turned it over in his hands, noticing that it was closed with a wax seal that had some sort of four piece emblem on it with what looked to be four animals on it… Oh, they were a lion, a snake, what seemed to be a badger and some sort of predator bird.

He hummed in interest as he moved his fingers to start opening it, but stopped short when he heard a small noise.

Stopping in his tracks, Harry turned and looked down and saw a decent sized black cat that had a scar running up its left hind leg and onto its' back with silvery blue eyes.

Harry smiled.

"Hey there Blackie, haven't seen you in while, how're you? That hind leg of yours giving you any trouble?" Harry bantered cheerfully.

The cat, Blackie as Harry had called him, merely stood up and rubbed against Harry's leg while meowing. A giggle left Harry's lips as he leaned down to stroke the cat's fur and scratch behind his ears.

Once he finished Harry continued on his way with Blackie following, and, the boy started talking.

"I'm on my way to the market Blackie, just gonna pick up some things for dinner tonight, Aunty Petunia's orders," he laughed as the cat started to growl in distaste," yeah, don't fancy listening to her much myself to be honest, but I'd rather listen to her order me around than listen to her screeching, it does get quite annoying after a while."

Harry sighed, but then he smiled down at the cat that was looking up at him,

"But," he started again as he reached down to pat his head," with friends like you, who cares if my relatives are rubbish?"

Blackie meowed back and rubbed his body against Harry's leg once again; the boy giggled and pat the felines head again before he continued on his way in silence.

Which ended once the boy remembered he still had a strange envelope in his hand.

Raising the letter in the air, so that is was closer to his face, Harry called out a quiet," almost forgot," and started to pull at it again.

A questioning mew caused for Harry to look at his companion as he opened it. Harry smiled at the cat,

"Oh, wondering what this is Blackie?"

A meow.

"Well, this here is a letter all for me! Not entirely sure who it's from, but they seem to know of my situation, though I don't know how, anyways, it seems to be from some sort of school and, since I can't open it up back at the house I decided to open it while on the way to the market, see what it is y'know?"

Blackie flicked his tail in reply as he batted at Harry's leg; Harry laughed again," alright, alright hold your horses Blackie I'm getting to it!" he laughed again as he carefully pulled the envelope open and reached in to take out the parchment within.

Then, he started reading.

"Okay, what do we have here? Hmm, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? What's that? Whatever, moving on….. Albus Dumbledore…. And a bunch of stupid titles that sound like they could be important but that I don't know anything about. Now, onto the actual letter…. _Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_ ….."

His eyes roved over the paper as he fell silent, but Blackie seemed to get excited but also agitated as his tail violently swished back and forth, his eyes unwaveringly watching Harry.

The boy for the most part kept a neutral face, though it did break here and there as he moved from the first piece of parchment to the second, then, he was finished. He stopped walking and carefully put the paper back inside and closed it before placing it back within the folds of his clothes.

A quiet moment passed, then,

"Well it sounds a little out there and just a tad insane, but, considering that this is _me_ , its most likely _**not**_ gibberish and true-dammit." A harsh sigh left him as he started walking again, shaking his head and wondering why all the weird stuff always happened to him.

Then he started muttering.

"I'll have to find a way to get to wherever it is that wizards go to buy this stuff without telling Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia of course, I'll need to pool all of my money- wonder if they use normal money? If I take myself into consideration then probably not, damn, then after I do my shopping I'll need to tell dear Aunty and Uncle about this, can't just disappear for however long I'll be gone for no reason…"

His muttering continued as he made his way to the market where he absentmindedly told Blackie that," you can't come in with me, the employees would probably kick you out so stay out here okay?" the cat meowed in response and made himself comfortable on a bench near the entrance. Harry smiled then made his way inside, pulling the grocery list to his face while his mind drifted elsewhere, his subconscious taking over which allowed for him to get everything on the list without bumping into anyone.

After some time he was finished with his shopping and paying for the food items, he sighed in relief then headed outside, where he found Blackie and pet the cat for a moment, before he hid the groceries he got for his Aunt and went back inside the store, getting a couple things for himself, which he paid for with his own money, and then he was off, grabbed his other groceries and headed off back to 4 Privet Drive.

On the way back Harry started talking to Blackie again.

"Welp, Blackie, I think the store to get my school supplies from is probably somewhere in London; something inside me always felt like it was trying to pull me somewhere so I'm going to choose to believe it was the magic in me trying to get me to go to the magic in the city." He looked at the cat who meowed back," hopefully I'm right and I won't be wasting a perfectly good day that I could be spending doing something _decidedly_ **more** _**fun**_ if I turn out to be wrong and there isn't anything there for me to find," he sighed again while he adjusted his grip on the bags he was holding, Blackie once again meowed back but he also rubbed himself against Harry in a sort of comforting way which led to the green-eyed boy to smile,

"Thanks Blackie, I'd pet ya if my hands weren't so full, and if I didn't care whether or not Uncle Vernon took a belt to my hide because I got there after everyone got home, so this will have to suffice," and so he used his foot to pat the cat on the head and even scratch behind his ears before he started walking again.

Then, Harry was right in front of 4 Privet Drive and, with a sigh, he turned to Blackie," well, I guess this is where we go our own ways, but if I can I'll go out tonight and talk to you some more!" Blackie let out a meow that Harry thought sounded happy before he bounded away. The boy smiled but then sighed as he carefully made his way back into the house, bringing all of the bags to the kitchen and setting them on the counter," I'm back…." He called out in a soft voice; looking around him and seeing how empty the house was and how quiet too…

' _Probably went out for ice cream…'_ Harry thought as he started putting what wasn't going to be used in dinner away and then moved to start preparing everything for that evening.

Dinner that night was going to be a tempting pork Wellington stuffed with spinach and cheese with a side of mashed potatoes drenched in garlic butter; and dessert was to be Chocolate Lava Cake, both were going to be delicious, but Harry would be able to survive until night without it-being a sneaky thief had its perks, like being able to sneak out in the middle of the night and cook food and do other random things.

Shaking his head Harry refocused on the task at hand, he had to prepare everything before heading off to do the rest of the house chores, and so, with a sigh, Harry got to work.

 **-6:45 PM-**

Harry sat down on an old wooden stool in the kitchen with a breath of relief passing from his lips as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

He was finished with the rest of the house chores and dinner was just about ready to be taken out of the oven, the Dursley's had been gone for most of the afternoon, they hadn't come back at all during the time he had finished the last of the chores, which was strange considering they loved to bother him while he was working, really, they only did this if they decided to be a bunch of assholes and make Harry cook dinner only to make him save it all because they had gone out to eat that day.

Harry felt a displeased growl start to rumble in his chest, he really hoped that wasn't the case, because they only tended to do that when they were especially pissy at him which meant that he wouldn't have a day off tomorrow as they were all planning on going to the beach for a couple days-which in turn would make it harder for him to go to London in search of magic without tipping them off, which Harry _really didn't want_.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would be annoying enough to deal with when he tells them that he would be going to Hogwarts, after taking care of all of his business, it would be _soooooo_ **much** _**WORSE**_ if he had to tell them before he was able to do anything; it would make his life that _tiny bit_ more Hellish that _just_ might push him over the edge once and for all.

If they weren't careful he might end up blowing up the house without a single care in the world-

"Boy, is supper ready?!"

Harry let out a quiet sigh of relief at the sound of his Uncles voice, _' good, everything's going as planned,'_ he thought as he bowed his head so that his face couldn't be seen as he replied,

"Almost Uncle Vernon," he moved around the kitchen, swiftly pulling the cooked meat from the oven and plating it, then taking everything to the table and placed it where it belonged.

Just as he finished this the family of three came into the dining room, each with a different look on their face.

Aunt Petunia looked as if she had swallowed a lemon; Uncle Vernon almost looked disappointed while Dudley had a completely vacant look on his face; which soon change when he spotted the food on the table.

He gave a shout of glee and practically dove for the table; luckily nothing was in his way so nothing got knocked over. The Dursley parents chuckled at this, obviously finding it endearing, and maybe if Harry hadn't been forced to serve the ungrateful family basically his entire life he would have as well.

But anyways, soon the family of three were seated and digging into the delicious dinner that had been cooked for them, without a single care for the ten year old boy who had made it for them standing in the corner with a bowed head, not making any attempt to bring attention to himself.

Then, after some time, and after several instances of "asking" the green-eyed boy to get them things to make their dinning more enjoyable, the Dursley's were finished eating and were getting up from the table, not making it easy in the least for Harry to gather up the dishes to wash-

Oh.

Harry looked up at his Uncle, who had just grabbed his shoulder and who was looking back at him with a meaningful look in his eyes and Harry understood.

 _He had an appointment tonight._

Bowing his head once again, Harry moved over to the sink and quickly put everything in it and set about soaking all of it. Once the water was high enough he shut it off and moved over to wipe his hands on the washcloth on the counter, his heart was beating erratically and he was having a hard time controlling his breathing; it was always like this when he was informed he had an appointment, but, soon enough he would calm down again and be able to get it done and over with.

Taking a deep breath Harry forced himself to remain calm even as Vernon leaned over him, his hot breath ruffling his hair.

"Go to the second bedroom, boy," he spoke lowly.

Harry nodded; turning and moving through the house with a bowed head.

He didn't acknowledge Dudley's form sitting in front of the television.

He didn't acknowledge Aunt Petunia's disgusted and jealous gaze following him as he walked.

He didn't acknowledge anything.

He just walked through the house and up the stairs to Dudley's second bedroom; he undressed and kneeled in the middle of the room. Usually Uncle Vernon would undress him, but he was wearing his special thief gear underneath so he took the liberty of doing it himself, and so, he waited.

It wasn't long until the thumping footsteps of his Uncle were getting louder and louder as he made his way up the stairs.

Harry took in a breath.

The door was closed and locked.

Harry let out the breath.

He was thrown to the floor with a much larger body following after.

He closed his eyes.

A hand moved down his body.

He became numb.

Everything hurt.

He opened his eyes.

Something inside was torn and bleeding.

His wrists were bruised and raw.

His throat and jaw was sore.

Something wet was slipping down his inner-thigh.

But at least it was over.

Turning over so that he was on his side Harry mustered the strength to keep moving; absently, his mind registered the sounds of laughing and happy voices coming from the floor below.

His lip trembled and his eyes watered, but, he refused to let the tears fall, so, he pushed all his emotions away and just concentrated on breathing.

Some time passed and soon Harry was hearing the sounds of first Dudley then his Aunt and Uncle going to bed, but not before his Uncle grabbed him, dragged him down the stairs then threw him into the cupboard there, then he reached over and harshly grabbed a handful of Harry's hair, yanking on it he spoke,

"Remember, you have another appointment on Wednesday, make sure you behave while we're gone or you'll have to work on Saturday and Sunday too; have I made myself clear?"

Harry nodded his head and so, with a satisfied grin, Vernon let go of Harry's hair and closed and locked the cupboard before lumbering back up the stairs.

A half an hour passes before Harry starts moving again.

With a small grunt Harry pushes himself up and crawls towards the hole in the back of the cupboard, goes through it and the tunnel and gets out. He goes up to the second bedroom and grabs his thieving gear, leaving his clothes on the floor as he didn't care about them and turned away and went to the bathroom to wash up.

When he finished cleaning himself up he put on his gear which consisted of a black, long-sleeved shirt that had a mask hidden in the collar with buttons near his shoulders that allowed for him to shorten the sleeve and a strap that was part of a harness wrapped just below his chest that he could attach his ropes to, pants that has a special belt that is under the fabric which also had straps that made up the rest of his harness that helped even out his weight that were wrapped around just below his groin up to his hips, his pants also had various types of pockets strewn about them that he could stuff any tools he might need into, his pants could also become shorts via buttons like his shirt and his boots were in his cupboard.

Once he was finished putting his gear on he went to his cupboard and grabbed his hoodie and boots from it, put them on and left the house while stuffing his hands into the pockets.

He stiffly walked for a solid twenty minutes before stopping, and he only did that because of the cat that was meowing at him.

Harry looked over and recognized the black furred cat with silvery blue eyes and smiled," Blackie," he whispered and crouched down in order to scratch him on the head; the cat purred in response which then led to the boys smile to become genuine.

After a couple minutes of quiet petting Harry stood back up," I'm going to the bus station, gonna look at the schedule for tomorrow so that I can plan accordingly. Ms. Figg won't notice much, she hardly ever does, spends most of her time taking care of her cats instead of me so I might as well take advantage of that."

Blackie meowed in agreement as he flicked his tail, causing for Harry to continue talking, quietly of course,

"I just had another appointment tonight... Wish I hadn't, but hopefully that will tide Uncle Vernon over until he gets back from vacation… but anyways, I think what I'll be doing tomorrow is just look for the store or whatever it is, I don't think that I'll be going into it for now, just scouting it out before going in the next day; today is Wednesday after all and the Dursley's will be gone until Sunday so I've got plenty of time, don't you think so Blackie?" he asked as he neared a bus station.

Blackie mewed in response, a purr sounding from his throat. Harry chuckled and pat Blackie's head," thanks Blackie," and with that he walked right up to the bus schedule sitting on the wall outside. Staring at it Harry started to mutter about what he was going to do, again.

"So, there's a bus leaving at 6 AM… nope can't take that one….. 9 AM…? No… hmmm…. Hafta settle for 11, day after I can take an early bus but not tomorrow since the Dursley's are leaving somewhere between 9 and 10….."

Once he was finished Harry left and made his way to a nearby fast-food restaurant and got himself a couple burgers and fries with a large root beer in order to satisfy his hunger and then made his way to a park to eat, giving Blackie the occasional fry as he did so.

Once he was finished he threw away the trash and stretched," hmm, it's time that I head on over to the library, studying at night really is best, wouldn't you say Blackie?" the cat merely flicked an ear.

Harry grinned.

"Heh, right, well, better get going yeah?" and with that Harry made his way to the library to start his nighttime study.

 **[July 25th 1991]**

 ***Bang, bang, bang***

"Get up, freak, you need to make breakfast!" a woman's voice woke Harry from his slumber, causing for him to sit up and start rubbing at his eyes while mumbling a demur,

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

The sound of a lock unlatching alerted Harry to the fact that he could get out of his cupboard now, so without further ado he put on his glasses and pulled on his oversized clothes and pushed open the door, silently making his way to the kitchen so that he could start on breakfast.

"Go, move faster freak!" Aunt Petunia smacked him over the head, an irritable expression on her face; of course she was especially angry at him today, her husband had just the night before decided to be with her nephew instead of her again-house wrecker is what she called him, though she never made a move to stop _her husband_ from doing such things, all she did was yell at _him_ and hit _him_ for it.

Harry merely sighed and got on to making breakfast while the rest of them went about finishing their packing for their long awaited vacation.

Harry was even more ecstatic than they were about it, a whole four days without the troublesome trio, it was almost like heaven.

Soon enough Harry was finished with breakfast and the Dursley family quickly ate it, then, Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry around the arm and instructed him to grab a few extra pairs of clothes for Ms. Figg's place as the house would be locked and he wouldn't be able to get back in until they were back ( _Harry snorted at that_ ) and so the morning went by, ending at about 9:30 with the Dursley's leaving their home.

With a sigh Harry placed his clothes in the little bedroom that he always stayed in at Ms. Figg's place when he was spending the night. Harry then spent some time with Ms. Figg's cat's before he left for the day, telling the older woman that he would just be in his room or out and about the neighborhood to which the woman happily told him to have fun and then focused the rest of her attention on her cats who she was cooing at.

Shaking his head Harry headed up to the little room, took off his oversized clothes so that he was only in his thieving gear, grabbed his wallet and hoodie and then climbed out the window. He pulled on his hoodie then casually made his way to the bus station, making certain that he remained in the shadows and unseen.

It wasn't long before he got to the station and bought his ticket to London, then he went to the same fast-food restaurant as the night before and ate while waiting for his bus to get there, and once it did he was on and off to London.

While on the way there Harry realized that he had company," why, hello there Blackie, didn't see you following me; I should probably start paying a little more attention huh?" the black cat meowed back and rubbed his head against Harry's arm, the boy scratched behind his ears resulting in Blackie to start purring.

This behavior continued on to London, and when they got there both the boy and the cat jumped out of the vehicle and started walking around the city.

It wasn't until several hours later that Harry finally found what he was looking for.

He and his feline companion had spent the afternoon and early evening walking around the city with the occasional stop at random places that Harry was checking out to see if it was worth his time to steal from when they happened upon it.

Harry was looking around him when he spotted a hanging sign that proudly proclaimed in peeling paint that it was the Leaky Cauldron, and Harry felt like it was pulling him in, so, trusting his gut instinct, he walked right up to the door, quickly taking notice that no one else seemed to be able to see it, and walked inside.

Upon entering Harry and Blackie saw the inside of what looked to be an old tavern of some sort with a few scattering of people in clothing that was tattered and looked like it was from the 17th century.

Carefully pulling his hoodie lower on his face Harry walked up to the bar counter and climbed onto a stool and tapped the counter to get the bartenders attention.

The man turned to face him with a pleasant enough smile, though it was missing a couple teeth, he started talking,

"Hey there, I'm Tom, anything I can do for you lad?" he asked kindly. Harry allowed for a polite smile to come to his face,

"Hello sir, my name's Harry, if you could spare the time, would you tell me how this all works? Y'know, this whole, uh, magic thing?" he asked with much difficulty, hoping with his entire being that he hadn't walked into the wrong place. He let out a sigh of relief as the man looked at him in understanding and a tiny bit of sympathy,

"Ah, you're a Muggleborn then?" he asked kindly before speaking up again," wait, what I meant was you're a wizard who has non-Magical parents, that's what a Muggleborn is." Harry nodded his head in understanding before tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"I don't know. Y'see, I wasn't raised by my parents, I was raised by my, probably, non-Magical relatives, I was also told by my relatives that magic doesn't exist so I'm guessing that they aren't Magical in any way. By the way, what does Muggle mean?"

Tom smiled kindly," Muggle is just a word used to describe non-magic folk, don't worry it's not a derogatory term."

Nodding his head again Harry remained quiet for a moment, absently petting Blackie who had taken residence on his lap, and then he was struck with another question,

"Oh, um, are there any other terms like Muggle and Muggleborn that I should know?" he asked carefully with a tilt of his head. Tom didn't seem to notice Harry's cautious behavior and simply answered,

"Well, there are plenty you should know about before venturing into the Wizarding world! I already told you about Muggleborns and Muggles, then there are those who come from purely Magical families and backgrounds, these people are known as Purebloods and they generally think very highly of themselves because of this, most seem to think that being Pureblooded means that you are better than anyone with what they think is tainted blood, Muggleborns and Half-bloods, who are Witches or Wizards who have a Muggle or Muggleborn parent and a Pureblooded parent. Then there are Half breeds who are the combination of a human and some sort of creature-"

"Creature? What do you mean by that?" Harry quickly cut in, his curiosity piqued. Tom stopped for a moment in order to get his mind on this new thread of conversation before answering,

"Ah, yes, well a Creature is something like Giants and Elves and Vampires and the like; they're different than Beasts which are more like Magical animals, a Creature tends to be the more... _Human_ -like beings, do you get it?"

Harry nodded his head with excitement as he gestured for Tom to continue talking, he couldn't help feeling giddy, to think, Elves and Vampires existed! How exciting!

Tom then explained a couple more concepts and terms used in the Magical world, like how most Wizards, including himself, weren't all that aware of what was happening in the Muggle world as none of them are particularly interested in anything that could be happening as well as the fact that the Leaky Cauldron was a way of getting into the Magical district of London, which Harry found was called Diagon Ally.

Near the end of his explanation Tom offered Harry a drink called pumpkin juice, telling the boy that it didn't taste just like pumpkins and more like pumpkin pie, to which then led to the boy to agreeing to try some, and, found that he quite liked it and wondered what it would taste like with a shot of whiskey in it, though he kept that speculation to himself and simply continued to listen to the bartender as he spoke of a couple more things pertaining to the Magical world before Harry finished his drink and told him that he had to get going as it was getting late, so, with a hearty farewell from the man and the promise of coming back tomorrow, Harry headed off to the bus station so that he could get back to Ms. Figg's house.

Once Harry arrived back at the older woman's house she told him that she was just about to go fetch him as it was supper time and he followed her into the dining room and ate before he sat in her living room for a time to spend time with her cat's before he headed up to his borrowed bedroom in order to plan out his next day.

 **[July 26th 1991]**

Harry woke up bright and early in a delightfully good mood and he nearly skipped downstairs to Ms. Figg's kitchen and started making a delicious early breakfast for himself and Ms. Figg, carefully setting hers aside with a note telling her that he was going to be out of the house for most of the day again, doing some odd jobs and just walking around the neighborhood and wishing her a wonderful morning, then he was gone-but not before he gave some extra loving to the cats of the house of course.

He then made a quick stop in a _secret_ location where he kept his extra money from all of his heists and took a small portion of it, which amounted to roughly 3000£ ($3800) and carefully put it in his wallet and then he stuck his wallet in one of his pockets and then he was off to the bus station.

It wasn't long before Harry with his apparent companion Blackie were off to London so that they could get to the Leaky Cauldron.

Once there Harry made his way to the Magical tavern and cheerfully greeted the bartender as he asked the man to help him get to Diagon Ally so that he could do his school shopping. The man was happy to help and opened the back up for Harry while telling him of the Wizarding Bank that Harry would want to go to in order to exchange his Muggle money for Wizarding money, the boy listened intently while memorizing the way he touched the bricks so that he could get into the place without having to ask for help the next time he came.

And then, the bricks were out of the way and Harry was struck speechless by the sight that he was greeted with.

The buildings were tall and smooshed together, the streets were narrow and full of lively, and strangely dressed, people, there were carts and booths full of interesting looking items for sale with equally interesting looking people running them.

With a laugh of giddiness escaping him Harry quickly thanked Tom and rushed into the crowd, making his way to the tall white building that Tom had told him about.

Harry and Blackie quickly and stealthily maneuvered their way through the crowd of people and towards Gringotts with a couple quick stops to take a peek at the items for sale, but Harry forced himself to keep going so that he would be able to actually buy things instead of just looking at them ( _he considered stealing something but held himself back, he didn't know what Magic could do so stealing would have to wait_ ) and soon enough he and his feline companion were in front of the snowy white building.

He marveled at the building for a moment before he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly; calming himself he smiled and walked up the steps only to be greeted by two, strange, looking creatures that were dressed in red and golden armor. They opened the doors for him while bowing politely, which then motivated Harry to do the same back with a kind smile before he rushed into the building, not taking note of the surprised looks on the creatures' faces after he did so.

Harry swiftly made his way into the building, cautiously looking around at the gleaming white marble walls and floors; he had to admit, even with all the traveling he'd done and all the museums and mansions that he'd been to, Harry couldn't quite compare any of that to this beautiful building he now found himself in, though maybe that was just the excitement and awe talking...

He was brought out of his thoughts by the large silver door in front of him being opened for him, the same armored creatures as before holding the towering doors open for him. Harry was just about to thank them when one of them cleared its throat, gesturing above him causing for Harry's eyes to flick upwards.

He stopped, tilting his head to the side as he spotted words carved into the wall above the doorway, taking a moment to read what it said before he looked back to the armored creatures, smiled then bowed his thanks, mumbling a quiet," thank you," before he confidently walked into the main building, nearly stopping at the sight that greeted him there.

A large marbled hall with counters stretching out on either side of it with many strangely dressed people standing before each one, talking to the little creatures sitting at the counters, some of which were doing other things such as looking at and weighing precious gems (Harry licked his lips) and taking pound notes and exchanging them for bronze, silver and golden coins, Harry guessed that that was the currency that the wizarding world used.

Gathering himself, Harry strode resolutely to one of the counters that appeared to be a currency exchange station and waited for his turn, casually standing while his eyes took in everything-maybe he would be able to pull a heist here-and soon enough it was his turn.

Harry looked up at the little creature before him and smiled pleasantly, walking forward and going onto his tiptoes he began speaking," hello, the name's Harry, I'm a Muggleborn and would like to exchange some of my muggle notes for the wizard currency please," he reached into his pocket and pulled his full to bursting wallet out and took hold of his money, handing it to the creature.

The pointed nosed being raised a brow while taking the notes into his hand, looking them over-obviously making sure they were real-before he started quickly counting them out. Once he-she? It, whatever-was finished he raised his head and looked at Harry,

"Do you want all of this exchanged?" the creature asked, his voice high and gravelly. Harry nodded his head, smiling politely,

"Yes please, mister..." he then looked around the desk top, looking for some sort of name plate, and when he found it, continued," Bloodfang."

Nodding the creature then went about tallying up the correct amount of coins, and when he finished he snapped his clawed fingers and another creature popped up, took the parchment with the total sum on it and scurried away. Bloodfang turned back to Harry and the two of them waited for a moment, but that moment was broken as Harry decided to speak up,

"Excuse me, not meaning to be rude or anything, but what are you exactly?" he asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

Bloodfang raised a bushy brow before answering," I am a Goblin, Master Harry, we are the ones who run the wizarding bank Gringotts and keep watch over you humans' money and keep it safe. Remember that before you do anything to anger us." He finished sharply, very obviously threatening the young boy.

Unfortunately for the Goblin Harry had gone through too much to feel intimidated and so only smiled in response," of course sir, wouldn't dream of it," he cheekily responded while interlocking his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth on his feet, looking for all the world as if he were the most disarming and innocent creature in the entire world.

"And it's just Harry, no need to add master," he cheerily added as he planted his feet on the ground and the Goblin from before returned with a small black pouch. Bloodfang took the pouch then tipped it over some, many golden coins falling out to land on the counter for Harry to see. The Goblin turned up his nose while he spoke,

"155 Galleons, 11 Sickles and 10 Knuts for you Mister Harry, one Galleon is worth 19 pounds, a Sickle one fifty and a Knut five pence. Does that suffice?" Harry quickly did the math in his head, coming to the conclusion that he wasn't being played and smiled up at the Goblin,

"Yes sir that will do just fine!" nodding Bloodfang started to put the coins back into the pouch, continuing to speak,

"Very well mister Harry, this pouch is a bottomless bag, you can put anything you want in here and it won't feel any heavier," he handed Harry the bag, then he smiled sinisterly," the currency exchange costs 2 Galleons and the bag 3, please hand over the money mister Harry~!" he held out a hand, his smile still in place.

Harry actually snorted in amusement before he pulled out the five coins, placing them in the Goblins hand," have to make money somehow, eh?" he asked rhetorically, only getting a wider smile in response. Harry laughed to himself before bowing to the Goblin," thank you mister Bloodfang, if there isn't anything else you'll like to rope me into, I'll be on my way," and with that he gave another deep bow, twirled around and walked out of the building, Blackie bounding after him.

Once he left Harry looked around while absently patting Blackie's head, looking at all of the crammed together buildings surrounding him. He looked at the names on each sign before making up his mind and jumping down the stairs with his feline friend following him, starting for a shop by the name of Flourish and Bloots, which he quickly found was a book store.

He bought all of the books that he was required to buy for school, but he also got more than that; anything he felt drawn to or caught his fancy he bought, uncaring of the large amount of books he was amassing, that and the book seller looked very pleased once he was finished, though he looked disapprovingly at his little companion.

From there he went from shop to shop, buying all of the required materials and more, happily taking everything he wanted. He on occasion spotted something that he didn't quite have enough Galleons to buy, but he reasoned with himself that he would be able to do so at a later time, he would just need to come by the next day with more money, luckily he had a lot of it to splurge.

Harry had just left the shop called _"Madame Malkin's Robes for all Occasions"_ and let out a sigh of relief.

' _Just a couple more shops left,'_ he thought to himself, twisting his neck with a satisfying crack. He opened his eyes and scanned his immediate area, searching for his next stop-he still needed his wand, but he wanted to make a stop at the pet store. Letting out a breath of air, Harry glanced down at his furry companion, smiling he playfully asked,

"Where do you fancy we should go next Blackie? Should I get my wand first or should I go to Magical Menagerie-"

 _Rrraow_

Harry was cut off by the cat jumping onto his face and knocking him over, which only made Harry start laughing hysterically,

"Okay, okay! We'll go to the pet store first!" he said through his laughter. Blackie looked very pleased with himself and started purring while rubbing himself on Harry's face, who laughed again and picked up the cat while standing," heh, okay, let's go then," and made his way to the closer store.

Once he entered he looked around with Blackie in his arms, taking in the different types of animals that were inside the shop. It mainly consisted of cats, owls and toads but there were a couple interesting looking animals that weren't any of those and so Harry spent his time looking at all of them, carefully holding Blackie so that he wouldn't drop him.

Near the end of his excursion Harry came face to face with the most beautiful snowy owl he had ever seen.

Its feathers were pure white, except for the coal black speckles that were dotted here and there and the most beautiful, piercing yellow eyes Harry had ever seen.

"Hello beautiful," the green-eyed boy breathed, carefully inching closer to the magnificent bird of prey.

It slowly turned its head to him, a smart gleam glittering in its eyes and it seemed to be looking him up and down as well. Harry was about to reach his hand out to touch her, when something stopped him.

A large hand, it had to be larger than Harry's own head (though that wasn't saying much considering how small he is) reached over him and carefully pat the owls head. The snowy owl made a clicking sound before pulling away from the hand, turning from Harry and his new companion.

The boy looked to the side and his eyes traveled up, up, up the large frame until they landed on the scraggly, yet kind, face of a man that had to be ten feet tall at the least; he had jolly red cheeks and a thick curly black beard and hair, both seeming to reach his chest. His eyes were brown, yet soft and he smiled kindly at Harry.

"Fancy this 'ere owl, do ya lad?" the man asked with a thick accent. Harry nodded while tilting his head down, allowing for his hoodie to fall over his face so that the man could only see half of it.

"Yes sir, it's very beautiful," he replied politely, carefully, this man looked kind but he was probably very dangerous. Even with the kind smile adorning his lips, Harry still kept up his guard,

"Ay, tha' she is! I've had my eye on her for quite a while now, wanted to get her for someone, but, I think it would be best if you got 'er!" Harry looked back at the man in shock, not expecting that response. He tilted his face up just the slightest bit, allowing for both his eyes to connect with the giants,

"And why's that? Shouldn't you get her for that someone you mentioned?" he questioned cautiously, but the man only laughed heartily, saying,

"Ah, but she wants you! Not one day I've in 'ere has she looked at me quite like how she looked at you. She's your familiar, your animal soulmate if you will! She belongs to you and only you; from the time she was hatched to the time she dies, she will be yours and only yours!" Harry was startled by the large mans' voice, though he supposed he shouldn't have been. He finally turned his face all the way to his,

"You really think so?" he asked softly, feeling a strange emotion bubbling up in him; and when the man smiled and nodded, Harry couldn't help returning it, bowing his head he thanked the man," thank you very much mister..."

"Hagrid! Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

"I'm Harry... You work at Hogwarts?" Harry carefully asked,

A grin," yep! I take care o' the grounds and the dear creatures on them! Make certain the students don't get to close to any of the less safe ones as well! If you want to have a cup of tea with me while you're there, I wouldn't mind at all 'Arry!" the boy couldn't help giggling at the mans' enthusiasm,

"Yeah, that'd be nice Hagrid, really nice," he smiled up at the man while hugging Blackie closer to him, causing the cat to start purring.

"Well then," Hagrid perked up again, smiling for all he was worth," let's get you that owl, hmm?" and without a response from him, reached over and plucked the owl from her perch, grabbed a couple of essentials for the creature and then made his way to buy it, all within a couple seconds.

Harry stood there dumbfounded for a moment; the magical world was really messing with his reaction time as he wasn't fast enough to shake himself out of his shock and tell the giant of a man that he could buy her before the transaction was over and done with, a smiling Hagrid looking at the green-eyed boy.

"'Ere you go 'Arry! All ready to go!' and he pushed the supplies into his arms, making Harry drop his feline companion, and then handed Harry the cage holding his owl," take good care of 'er, y'hear? She's a good lil companion to have at Hogwarts, plus she'll be able to deliver any letters you have to anyone you want! Well, I have to get going now, business to attend and all tha'. See ya around 'Arry!" and with a pat to his head and a wave over his shoulder, the strange man known as Rubeus Hagrid was gone.

Harry stood still for only a moment before he shook himself out of his trance and gave a mighty sigh _,_

 _okay, I really need to retrain my reaction time, this is just ridiculous, I should be able to react faster than that!'_ he mentally scolded himself, shaking his head and putting all of his new supplies in a bottomless bag, opened the cage and let his owl out, put that in the bag too and then urged her to hop onto his arm, picking Blackie up with the other.

He smiled at the bird softly, gently running his fingers through her plumage and cooing to her softly," you're such a beautiful owl, and no doubt you're very smart; I need to think long and hard on what to call you, beautiful girl," the owl clicked in response before nuzzling her face against Harry's own.

Harry giggled.

"Yeah, you need a special name..." and he continued to talk to her softly as he made his way out of the store, through the street and to in front of Ollivander's wand shop, but, before he could go in, a commotion caught his attention.

To the side of the store was a group of redheads; there were six in total, a woman that was kindly and a little on the plump side who Harry figured was the mother of the group. Then there were two identical boys that were taller than the woman but with young faces, they were probably in their early teens, another older looking boy with something resembling a small afro on his head, a younger boy with a straight nose and freckles all of his face and a girl that was younger than him with longer hair reaching the middle of her back.

What was causing the commotion was the younger boy, who seemed to be arguing with his mum about something; and seeing as he was gesturing at the wand shop, Harry had an idea as to what that was.

He casually moved closer to the group in order to listen in on the conversation, bringing Blackie closer to his chest while his owl jumped onto his shoulder as he did so and listened.

"... and Fred and George too! Why can't have just one thing that isn't a hand-me-down? I'm not asking for much mum, I just want my own wand! Is that too much to ask?" the boy asked in exasperation.

Harry had already taken in their attire and had come to the easy conclusion that they were either poor or were just scraping by.

"I'm sorry Ron dear, but we only have enough money to buy a couple things, maybe next year?" the mum tried to reason, smiling apologetically. The boy, Ron, vigorously shook his head,

"No! Next year Ginny will be going to Hogwarts! She'll be the one getting new robes because she's a girl! Can't I have something this year? Please?" Ron pleaded with his mother, but all the woman did was sigh sadly, shaking her head which caused for the boy to deflate,

"I'm sorry Ron, but we just can't afford a new wand right now. You'll just have to make do with your brothers' old one, I'm sorry dear…." Ron shook his head and turned away, a dejected aura coming from him and to Harry, who sighed in exasperation,

' _Talk about a drama queen!'_ he thought as he turned to the family of redheads, making his way over to the group while pulling his hood down more so that it would shadow his face, then he smiled as he tapped one of the twins on the shoulder.

The older boy turned around and raised a brow at him as he elbowed his duplicate who also turned around," take a load of this Gred, a shady little kid just tapped me on the shoulder," one of them said, the other hummed thoughtfully,

"Really Forge? Who do you reckon he is? What does he want, do you think?" he replied. Harry raised his own brow at the two of them, but didn't let their odd way of talking get to him,

"I'm Harry. Y'see, I was just about to head into the shop here, but I'm a Muggleborn and don't understand much about the Magical world yet; do you think you could spare your little brother there so that he can answer some questions I have? He's my age after all; it'd be less awkward that way." Harry smiled disarmingly up at the two, playing up his innocence so they wouldn't see him as anything but harmless.

The two looked at each other for a moment, seemingly communicating telepathically, but then they nodded in unison and turned to their mother,

"Oh mother dearest~" Forge called out with a grin,

"Oh mother~" Gred followed, inching closer to the woman,

"We have a little friend to show you~" they spoke at the same time, then they were turning and pulling Harry forward, showcasing the child to the plump woman.

"This here is Harry! He says he's a Muggleborn and he wants ickle Ronnikins to help him with Wizarding knowledge, since he's about to head into Ollivander's~" they again spoke at the same time, shit eating grins on their faces. The woman suddenly looked at Harry with sympathy, which made the boy uncomfortable and started speaking,

"Oh, you poor dear, of course Ron can help you with any questions you might have, can't you Ron?" she turned to the named boy, who only shrugged his response,

"Yeah, I guess so," he mumbled while crossing his arms disinterestedly. The woman smiled before turning to Harry again,

"There you go Harry dear! I hope he'll be of help to you!" Harry nodded while tilting his head down some, shadowing his face but smiling while doing so,

"Thank you, Misses…..?" he left off meaningfully, which then caused for the woman to gasp in mortification.

"Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Mrs. Weasley dear, that there is Ginny, she's a year younger than you and Ron, and you already know which one he is, and these are the twins Fred and George. And my third eldest Percy! Now, then, run along you two, the rest of us will get what we need while you help him Ron dear, okay?"

Sighing, Ron nodded his head then turned to Harry, attempting at a friendly smile and mildly succeeding.

"Let's be off then," he muttered and started walking to the door when Harry nodded. The green-eyed boy politely bowed to Mrs. Weasley then hurried after Ron, entering the shop with the other boy.

Looking around Harry took in the dark, dusty and quiet front area and decided that it had a curious, yet calming effect on him, as if calling for him to relax and get comfortable for something exciting was coming.

Smiling Harry took in the old chair sitting in front of an equally old looking front counter which was situated in front of many tall shelves that had boxes upon boxes stacked on them haphazardly.

Harry walked up to the counter and stood on his tiptoes so that he could reach the bell on it, and once he tapped it not one second later an older man with wild white hair, nearly white eyes and nice, but disheveled, clothing arrived, rolling over on a ladder.

The boy smiled politely up at the man, bowing his head a little as he introduced himself," hello sir, I'm Harry, a Muggleborn, or at least I was raised by Muggles, and I would like to get a wand please."

His eyes widened some as he jumped down, a strange gleam in his eye, while walking over to the pair of boys. His lips twitched up into a smile, a look that told Harry that the man knew something that he didn't, but he started speaking before Harry could question him," well hello, mister, ahem, Harry, I am Garrick Ollivander, the creator of these fine wands that you see before you. Now, are you left handed or right handed?" he asked as he walked forwards, pulling out a measuring tape.

Harry tilted his head to the side while sticking his right hand out," I can use both pretty well, but I'm primarily right handed," he replied and watched as the man started to measure him in odd ways, ranging from his foot to his arm to his elbow to his hand.

"Well, then," Mr. Ollivander started while walking away, snapping his fingers to stop the measuring tape, Harry jerking as he realized that it had continued to measure him even though Mr. Ollivander had walked away, but after getting over his shock he merely smiled, even more excited to find out just what magic would add to his life now that he knew about it.

"How about we start with this one," he started up again, catching Harry's attention. He saw the man come closer and hand him an opened box with a slim stick inside it. Reaching in Harry picked it up, looking at the man in question, his answer being a smile and a quiet," well, give it a swish," causing Harry to do so, only for something in the back of the shop to explode.

Harry looked startled for all of one second before a very pleased smile came to his lips, a giggle escaping him as he handed the wand back to the white haired old man who mumbled about how it wasn't the right wand before grabbing another.

Quite a bit of time passed as Harry tried wand after wand after wand before, finally, he resonated with one.

It was brown and nearly a foot long, it wasn't all that intriguing to look at but Harry felt a strange warmth fill him once he touched it, not noticing the golden glow enveloping him. He looked at the wand in surprise for a time, basking in that strange warmth for a moment longer before, with a start as a hand touched his shoulder, looked away from the wand and into the face of the man that had given it to him.

Ollivander smiled down at the boy as he pulled his hand away from his shoulder, a strange gleam in his eye, his mouth opening to say something, but was interrupted by the nearly blinding light the suddenly enveloped the shop for a split second; it causing the crazy haired man to whirl around, staring into the back of his store, a small breeze blowing past him, seeming to be pulling him into the back of the store and the man followed it, moving into the back of the store and through a darkened door, disappearing from view.

Harry and Ron exchanged a quick glance, but no words were exchanged as the man was back, holding in his hands another box but this one was older, more wrinkled than the one holding Harry's new wand.

Ollivander stood in front of the two teens for a time, contemplating, bouncing from foot to foot for what felt like hours to Harry; until, finally, he gave a resolute nod of his head and presented Harry with the new box.

The green-eyed boy stared at it, his eyes darting from its surface to the wide, white eyes of the man presenting it to him several times before, with a sharp breath, he mumbled," always has to be me," before reaching out, taking the bow from the man and opening it, peering into this new, yet old, box.

Inside the container, sitting delicately on plush velvet, sat a wand; an interesting wand. It was strangely mixed, part subdued beige and part honeyed brown twirling around each other along the length of it; small lines crawled around the handle that almost looked like Tolkien elvish.

Harry stared at it a time, but then he shook his head and picked up the wand, a mild tremor running up his arm as he did so-this somehow felt more important than his other wand and he didn't quite understand way, but that feeling went away with what happened next.

As his finger wrapped firmly yet gently around the handle of the wand soft ribbons of light twirled from the tip, circling his wrist and arm, then his body, then covered the entirety of the store, pulsing warmly for a moment then, it all rushed back to the green-eyed boy.

Harry sucked in a breath as an even stranger warmth filled him, and he then realized that a strange feeling was filling him and he suddenly knew everything that had ever happened in the store up until that very moment and he knew that all he would have to do was focus on the feeling in order to see every single person who had ever set foot within the store, and every single person that had ever bought a wand from the Ollivander family.

But he shook his head, literally, and told himself that he would look into this new information later, turning to look up at the old man in front of him.

Ollivander stared at Harry while raising a brow, a strange smile coming to his face," well well, it would appear that you are an oddity mister Harry," said boy merely pursed his lips, an annoyed expression taking over his features-it always had to be him-which caused for Ollivander to laugh as he continued,

"I haven't met anyone who has needed two wands; though my grandfather had a long time ago... he told me that only those who have a single wand that has a single purpose are granted with two at one time-that first wand you took has a single purpose and will no doubt be destroyed from it, which is why you have another one, one that resonates seemingly better than the first with you...

"But, that is unimportant, allow for me to tell you about your wands instead," he gave another smile, and then he was pointing to Harry's first wand.

"that first one you have is made from Holly wood, eleven inches long with a single feather from a Phoenix who only gave one other feather, that feather going into the wand of, well, _You-Know-Who_ , who used it for great things-horrible things-but great."

"Now that one," he motioned to the other wand," is made from an English oak and Willow that grew next to and entwined together once they reached maturity, it too has a phoenix feather core but it's a much older one and I was told by my grandfather that it was a special brand of phoenix that had blue and white feathers instead of the normal red orange and yellow that most of these birds have. They say that these Blue Fire Phoenix's fire is even hotter than that of the normal phoenixes and their tears even more potent, it's also eleven inches. Curious, that you should have two wands that want you now; that the second is not waiting for you to lose the first in order to except you, curious indeed..." he trailed off as he walked behind the counter.

Harry looked back at Ron for a moment, who only shrugged in reply, and then his attention was back on the strange man who had returned to Harry with an interesting looking thing that reminded Harry of a gun holster, only the opening was smaller and looked to only be able to fit a wand.

Ollivander smiled as he spoke," well, it would appear that you are the owner of these beauties mister Harry; that will be 27 Galleons! I'll give you a Dragon hide wand holster for your Holly wand and a secret wand holster for your second wand free of charge!" Harry thought over the price for a moment before he nodded and paid the man, carefully taking the wand holsters from him and watching carefully as he demonstrated how to put them on.

Harry had his Holly wand strapped to his wrist, as it would be easier to access from there, and his Oak/Willow wand strapped to his leg, with an added spell that allowed for him to take it out without having to stuff his hands down his trousers.

After he was finished with that Harry turned to Ron, a questioning look in his eye," well, are you going to get your own wand or have you already gotten yours?" he asked, acting as if he hadn't any idea that the boy neither had one nor could he afford one.

Ron merely shook his head, looking to the side he huffed," no, my family don't have the money to spare to buy me a new wand so I'll just have to wait till another time," he said stiffly, obviously upset with the whole ordeal but trying not to let it show.

Harry tilted his head, as if he were confused, then he looked away for a moment, and then started talking,

"Well, Ron," Harry started while tapping his chin," if you can't afford to buy your own wand maybe I could, y'know, buy one for you and you-"

"I don't want your bloody charity!" the redheaded boy suddenly growled, a heated scowl on his freckled face as he turned to look at him. Harry looked back at him in surprise but amusement started to color his features as he chuckled; the redhead suddenly felt intimidated by this green-eyed boy who was shorter than him.

"Charity?" he questioned with a laugh, making Ron flush in embarrassment," who said anything about charity? Maybe you should've let me finish before getting your knickers in a twist, yeah?"

Ron's cheeks took on an even darker shade of red as he more or less pouted at the brunette, causing for another chuckle to come from Harry who tilted his head to the side, highly amused, asking," will you let me finish now?" the redhead nodded, so Harry continued,

"Thank you! Now, if you, Ron, can't afford your own wand then I can pay for it in exchange for information."

Ron looked confused by his proposition," information? What do ya mean?" Harry smiled at the taller boy,

"Well Ron, I was muggle-raised Y'see so I know diddly-squat about the Magical world, and even though I plan on reading many books on this part of the world it would be great if I could learn a little bit now before heading on to Hogwarts, understand?"

"Yeah, I think I do," he responded with a nod. Harry's smile got wider,

"Good, now, why don't you get your wand and when you're finished you can tell me about the four Houses, alright?" he asked, and smiled when Ron nodded in reply.

After that the redheaded boy went through almost the exact same treatment as Harry had in order to discover his own wand, and after a couple minutes, was able to find his, a warm, reddish glow surrounding Ron, making Harry smile happily, glad that the other boy was able to find his rightful wand.

After that Harry paid Ollivander, bowed his head and said his goodbyes while gesturing for his owl to land on his shoulder and picking up Blackie, leaving the building shortly thereafter with Ron in tow.

Once they were out in the street again, Harry turned to his human companion and asked," where do you want to go? Your mum isn't back yet so do you think we should stay here or hang out somewhere else?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

Ron looked up in thought for a moment then looked at Harry," why don't we go to Florean Fortescue's Ice cream Parlor? Its right over there," he pointed towards the shop, Harry followed his finger and nodded,

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea, I'd like some ice cream right about now anyway," smiling, the two headed off to the ice cream parlor, which once they got there the two each ordered something and went and found a seat, Harry placing Blackie next to him on his seat and his owl landed on the back of his seat, turning her head to the side and putting it under her wing, seeming to fall asleep.

While that happened Harry looked expectantly at Ron, smiling encouragingly," so, what can you tell me about the four Houses, and please, give me a completely unbiased opinion please!"

Ron stared at the boy with a blank expression for a moment, then he shook his head and nodded," Okay, hmm, well I'll with this first; certain families tend to mostly end up in certain Houses, personally my family, the Weasley's, we are Gryffindor's, another example would be the Malfoy family, they tend to be in Slytherin, the slimy snakes-!"

"Yes, yes I can see that you don't take well to Slytherin, which is why I asked you to give me an unbiased explanation of the four Houses, if you could carry on with that?"

"Oh, uh okay, umm….. Gryffindor is known as the House of Bravery and Chivalry, Ravenclaw is the House of Intelligence and Knowledge, Slytherin is the House of Cunning and Ambition and finally, Hufflepuff is the House of Hard work and Loyalty. That's the basic end of it at least; from what I've heard from my parents and brothers who've all been to Hogwarts the Gryffindor's tend to be stubborn but loyal, they protect each other from anyone who might try to make them look bad or calls them stupid just cause they say that bravery is really important; Ravenclaw's are a bunch of stuck-ups who think they're all that just cause they're in the "Smart House"," Ron made air quotes at this, causing for Harry to stifle a giggle, Ron smiled,

"But once you get to know them their not that bad, just a bit snooty about things. Then the Slytherin's are really dark and mysterious; they almost always keep to themselves and really hate Gryffindor's, though Gryffindor's aren't their biggest fans either, and both Houses get into at least two fights a year, at least that's what Bill and Charlie told me. A lot of Slytherin's were on You-Know-Who's side during the War eleven years ago so people don't really trust them that much, 'specially since they haven't made any effort to change their image, least that's what Percy said when he came back from school a couple weeks back, I don't know much more on them though..."

Nodding in contemplation, Harry asked," who's this "You-Know-Who" you mentioned? Also, there was a war recently? Was it a Wizard only war?" he questioned, tilting his head.

Ron looked surprised for a moment before he shook his head, laughing about something while rubbing at his neck," ah, forgot that you were raised in the muggle world….. Well, this war, it ended about ten years ago and was really bad, at least that's what my parents said. There were these bad people called-" he suddenly cut himself off, looked around in suspicion then leaned closer to Harry, raising a hand to block anyone from seeing his mouth, Harry leaned closer to the boy, turning his ear to his mouth.

" _They were called "Death Eaters" and they followed a man called V-V-Voldemort…. M-most people call him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named….."_ Harry heard the audible gulp from Ron as the boy leaned back in his chair, looking a little pale.

Harry tilted his head to the side, looking confused as he asked," why'd you whisper all that? What's so bad about saying Voldemort?"

Ron wasn't able to answer as almost everyone in the shop suddenly gasped in horror, surprising Harry into turning to look at them. Disgruntled murmuring started up as Harry turned back to Ron, looking even more confused.

Ron sighed while shaking his head," mum said that there was some sort of curse on his name, that if you said it something bad would happen….. I don't know if that's actually true though, most people just don't like to say his name, say its bad luck and all that. Mentioning just about anything from the war makes people upset so most people just don't….."

"Well, that's weird. I don't really care but I guess I'll just have to look into it more later." Harry shook his head with a sigh," but anyway, just tell me more about the next House, Hufflepuff was it?" Ron smiled happily before he started up again,

"Yeah, well, Hufflepuff aren't really outgoing, least that's what I've heard. They're nice and caring and really loyal people, like, really loyal, but they don't really stand out much besides that, nothing wrong with being more reserved and all that, but they don't seem to try and bring all that much attention to themselves," he shrugged," there isn't much else for me to say about them, they're nice and all but I don't know anything about them; I'd have to ask one of my brothers if I wanted to know more..."

Harry simply nodded his head to that before he smiled winningly at the boy, finding it amusing as he spotted the red rising up his neck and over his cheeks. He continued to smile as he said," thanks Ron that was really useful information that I will keep in mind when the first day of school starts."

Just as he finished speaking their orders were brought to them, and the rest of their time in the shop was spent talking about random things, mostly about Ron's experience growing up in the Magical world and what it was like and Harry telling the other boy what the Muggle world is like and all the things that Muggles have invented over the years, making Ron excited and wanting to learn more about them; Harry promised that he would get some books and bring them to Hogwarts and look over them with him, regardless if they shared a House or not.

Sometime later they were found by the twins who informed the two that the Weasley matriarch was about to go insane with worry over not being able to find them, they all left the shop and helped the woman calm down, Harry made certain to make it very clear that it was his fault that Ron and he weren't where she thought they would be, before he bid the family goodbye and made his way away from them, just barely catching Ron's excited words as he told his mum that he had his own wand, a light smile lighting the green-eyed boys face.

He pulled Blackie closer to his chest, carefully walking so that his owl would be able to remain on his shoulder comfortably and not have to flap her wings in order to keep her balance.

And then, he spotted a new street that had a sign hanging above it "Knockturn Alley" written on it. Harry peered down the street and noticed that it was far darker than Diagon Alley, but before he could start walking towards it Blackie started to growl, sinking his claws into the boys arms and looking up at him in desperation, silently pleading with Harry to not go down there.

Gently lowering his head, Harry placed a gentle kiss on Blackie's head, softly murmuring that he wouldn't be going down that street, at least not yet, and then made his way back to The Leaky Cauldron and ate an early dinner/late lunch there before he finally left London for the day, reluctantly placing his beautiful snowy owl in her cage before doing so.

About an hour later, and after telling his owl to fly over to his current bedroom window and hiding away everything that was magic so that Ms. Figg wouldn't be able to see it, he was back at Ms. Figg's house, walking into the building and greeting the older woman who thanked him for the breakfast that he had made for her that morning, simply telling her that it wasn't a big deal.

Then after another meal Harry made his way up to his temporary room and let his owl in through the window, and then he took out one of his new books and started reading through the night.

 **[July 27th 1991]**

The last days of Harry's freedom from the Dursley's was spent mostly with him going back to Diagon Alley and purchasing more things, like extra fabric and a book on Magical Sewing that he was going to use to make his thieving gear even more useful and finding blueprints on many of the buildings in Diagon Alley.

He also found a book in Knockturn Alley that had many interesting-and likely illegal-facts about the Wizarding world and how to outsmart them.

Which is the reason why Harry found out about the existence of Traces that are placed on a persons' wand until they are of legal age, tracking any and all uses of Magic that someone uses with their wand, but only if they aren't in a heavily Magical area as the surplus of Magic dulls the Trace to the point that it became dormant until outside of an area with a lot of Magical use; the book also told him how to take the Trace off of a wand, so Harry did just that, knowing that he had to if he wanted to play around with his Magic before school started.

He wanted to get as much done as he could before the Dursley's came back, before he had to attend to the appointment he had when they got back; not only that but he was preparing himself for the freak out his relatives would have when he told them that he was a Wizard and that he would be going to Hogwarts.

He was not looking forward to that at all.

 **Steamy: and an abrupt ending. I wasn't entirely sure how to end it without dragging it on so I decided to end it here. Next chapter will be out at some point, I'm not entirely sure when as I've just started it and all that so who knows, it'll be out when I finish it.**

 **I'll get back to you at a later date.**


	3. Knockturn Dealings

**Edit: So it would seem like I for some reason uploaded the wrong file so I'm reuploading this chapter, sorry.**

 **Steamy: Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooookkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...**

 **I apologize for being gone for so long, but just know that I have been busy with REAL LIFE and so wasn't able to focus on this, or any, of my stories so yeah, sorry about that.**

 **Also, WARNING, IMPORTNT AUTHORS NOTE! There will be young boy/older man pairings in this story, though nothing consensually sexual will be taking place until Harry's fifth year as that is the age that I have decided is the age of consent in the Magical world. Harry will be having interesting interactions with some older males in this story that might appear sexual but aren't, as Harry follows his feelings in a different way than in canon so his interactions will also be different. Just, if any of the interactions make you uncomfortable, I'm just letting you know that nothing sexual will be happening for now so don't worry, I'm not going to be having an eleven year old willingly having sex with people.**

 **Well, now with that out of the way, time to get to-**

 **Review responses:**

 **Guest 1: oh don't worry, something will happen, it's going to happen in this chapter so you can look forward to that.**

 **Guest 2: of course Harry doesn't know who he is, in canon he didn't know who he was until he was told by Hagrid and since Hagrid didn't know it was Harry he was talking to Harry hasn't found out about his fame quite yet.**

 **Sheba Winchester Potter: thank you for the comment!**

 **xXxblacklilyxXx: Don't worry about the thieving aspect, I wouldn't have made Harry a thief if we didn't get to see him do some thieving; there is at least one section in this chapter with a heist so you have that to look forward to, but most of the thieving will be happening over the course of this story so you also have that to look forward to. Also, luckily for you I've already re-uploaded chapter two with a, at least what I hope is, a better explained wand scene so there you go; if you haven't read that by now, well it's still there so go read it for a better understanding.**

 **Corri-writer: thank you, I'm glad that you like it.**

 **Codename-SN: I already responded to you in a PM so I won't be responding to you here; but I will say thank you again for the review and the criticism, that will be something I will need over the course of any of my stories as I do want to get better at writing plots and allow my audience to understand what I am writing, so thank you again.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter cast or books/movies and anything that might belong to other people**

 **Knockturn Dealings**

 **[July 30th 1991]**

At 9:30 AM, Sunday July 30th, the soft sound of humming filled the house of Ms. Figg.

Harry Potter was sitting on the small bed that sat within his temporary room, softly rocking forwards and backwards while reading one of his new books of Magic, keeping his mind off of the fact that he would be returning to the Dursley household later on.

Lifting a hand he started to run it through the soft feathers of his snowy owl, who hooted softly back at him in response, a soft clicking noise also escaping her to show her pleasure, causing for the boy to smile and lay a gentle kiss on her head before pulling back and continuing his reading.

By his feet sat a bag that held his undesirable clothes that he had brought with him to Ms. Figg's house. Everything he had gotten from Diagon Alley-and several of the other Alleys of Magical London-was stored within a Magical necklace pouch that was much like the bottomless bag he had received from the Goblins, only this one being smaller with a Notice-Me-Not charm on it, along with a Muggle concealment charm so that no one without Magic would be able to spot it.

Harry had purchased this little gem from the not so safe or lawful Knockturn Alley in one of the nondescript buildings, this one actually not being one for the Dark Arts but instead held odd bobbles and trinkets that were quite useful, especially for someone like Harry, so the boy could take a guess as to who the target customers were; but he didn't care, as long as he didn't get in trouble and as long as he could buy what he wanted he didn't really care who shopped there.

He was merely thankful that people like him-thieves-were who was shopping there, otherwise he would have to stalk the store and take out anyone he felt were even bigger bastards than he is.

Shaking his head Harry let out a sigh as he forced himself to refocus on his reading, wanting to get as much done as possible before he had to deal with both his relatives and their reactions to finding out that he was a Wizard and that he _would be_ going to Hogwarts whether they liked it or not!

He shook his head again before, with a sigh, he shut the book, putting it in his necklace, knowing that he wouldn't be able to focus any more now so he decided to revert all of his energy on thinking about other things in peace and quiet.

Different thoughts and emotions swirled around his mind; some were of relevance like planning heists for the many different Magical shops in the Alleys and other such places, some were more abstract, thoughts of what it would like to float on a cloud and wondering if, with Magic, he would be able to sate that strong thought he has had for as long as he could remember.

Then, another thought popped into his mind.

It was about the strange pulling he always felt for the Dursley house, a pulling that would get stronger the farther away and longer time he spent away from it, a pulling that became _painful_ if he ignored it for too long-it felt like something was digging into his very soul and pulling him back to the Dursley's-it felt like he had to be there, as if he couldn't survive without them, that if he left that house he wouldn't be able to survive.

Harry was just pondering whether that strange and painful pulling was Magical in origin or not when he was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of the front door opening, the chatter that started up telling him that his relatives were finally back.

"Well Hedwig," he started as he reached over to stroke her soft feathers," I guess it's time for you to go to Privet Drive now, don't worry, I left the attic window open and it doesn't face the street so unless the Dursley's are looking for you they probably won't see you," he leaned over and placed a kiss on her beak then smiled at her," alright girl, see you later."

He stood up and opened the window in his room and his owl flew out after nibbling at his ear affectionately.

Harry allowed for a grin to upturn his lips for a peaceful moment before wiping it off his face as he turned towards the door of the small room. With a sigh Harry reached down and picked up his bag, took a breath, and went down the stairs and to the living room.

He stood within the threshold of the living room for a moment, not bringing attention to himself as he simply listened to the adults in the room talk about him and how much of a bother he was _(or wasn't, according to Ms. Figg)_ for a time. After a couple minutes Harry saw Uncle Vernon turn, knowing that he was going to yell for him and took great pleasure as he startled his Uncle when he spotted him simply standing there, waiting to be called upon.

He demurely smiled up at the man, barely keeping his cheekiness and laughter in check at the surprised look on the fat mans' face before he ducked his head as it was harder to contain his mirth at the petulant grumbles of the man as he turned away from him, grumbling that he needed to follow him so that they could get back to the house, his wife and son following.

Harry nodded as he spoke a quiet," yes Uncle Vernon," and made his way out of the house, smiling up at Ms. Figg as he passed her and thanking her for allowing him to stay in her home for the past couple days, to which she smiled both warmly and absently, waving a hand mildly,

"Oh, you needn't worry about that dear, it was my pleasure! Actually if anything this experience was more pleasurable for me than you; those early morning breakfasts were simply divine! I hope I can taste some more of your cooking some other time dear!"

Quietly giggling Harry nodded to that," yeah, maybe some other time," then he bowed his head and rushed after his relatives, climbing into the back of the car with Dudley-their house may be close but they already had the car so they couldn't justify not taking him, especially not where everyone would see such treatment-and remained silent for the short drive to 4 Privet Drive.

In no time at all they were back and Harry hopped out of the car and went around to the back and grabbed several suitcases and brought them up to the house, fumbling with the knob before he was able to open it and take the suitcases to the rooms that the case belonged to, and when he was finished with that he bounded back down the stairs and went into the kitchen, knowing that the rest of the luggage would have been gotten and that when the family of three were finished either putting their suitcases in their rooms or unpacking they would be back down and want a snack, so he whipped something up for them while also cleaning the kitchen, dining and living rooms as they had all gained a fine, barely there layer of dust that Harry knew Aunt Petunia would make a fuss over, probably saying something about how her precious "Dudders" would inhale the stuff and die from allergies or something.

It didn't take Harry that long to both make a refreshing snack and clean up the rooms, finishing everything with a grace of someone who had done such before. Letting out a quiet sigh Harry settled the food and drinks on the dining room table and then went and stood by the cupboard door as he waited for his Uncle to come back, knowing that if he went off to clean up the rest of the house or do anything more than he'd already done his Uncle would punish him, as the Dursley's all liked to bother Harry between jobs and got angry if they didn't get to have that pleasure so it was less trouble to just waste a couple minutes than to waste both time and the ability to sit and move comfortably.

So with a bit of time to spare Harry allowed for his mind to go back to prodding the thought about whether or not the pulling of the Dursley home was because of Magic or not and something in him said it was. The pulling was on what felt like his soul, and Harry had just learned not that long ago that he had Magic, and when he had used his Magic to find The Leaky Cauldron and in conjunction Diagon Alley and the Wizarding world the feeling had been similar to the pulling this has had on him and Harry just knew, especially now that he was back in the house, that the pulling was Magical in origin, even if he wasn't entirely sure where it was coming from exactly-he'd have to find some time to investigate, his next chore was probably going to be the garden so he would start there.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a rough hand cuffing him over the head. He lurched forward but remained standing, glancing up at his Uncle the man had a nasty sneer on his face as he handed Harry another list of chores-when had made this one?-before shooing him off," get to work, boy, the garden needs tending to, you can do the other chores later!" he cuffed him over the head again as he passed him into the dining room, his wife and son following shortly thereafter.

Heaving a sigh, one loud enough for his relatives to hear as they liked to hear his discomfort from time to time, Harry made his way into the yard, silently thanking his Uncle for allowing him to start his search where he wanted to first.

After walking through the back door Harry stood still a moment, drawing in his Magic and letting it find any other sources of its' kind in the backyard. After only a second he felt his Magic trying to connect to something else in the yard so Harry slowly walked forwards, following the feeling and letting it guide him around the garden.

It first guided him to the front so he started to surreptitiously look around while also tending to the flowers and other such plants in the front garden, leaving both when the feeling started to pull him away and when he was finished.

Next he came to the side garden and he tended to the plants residing there, again leaving when he was both finished and was pulled away again. After that the feeling pulled him completely passed the back garden and to the other side of the house which caused for a sinking suspicion to enter Harry; the Magic couldn't be around the entire house, could it?

Shaking his head Harry focused on the Magic, telling himself that he would find out soon and so allowed for his Magic to lead him all around the house once again before settling in the backyard.

Harry tilted his head to the side a moment, trying to feel through all the Magic in the back, it being far stronger here than anywhere else which told him that the source had to be there. He slowly went around tending to all of the flowers while occasionally closing his eyes, feeling out where the source was exactly, and by the time he was finished, he found it.

In the very back of the garden, flush against the back fence separating the Dursley house from their neighbors, was a smooth, gray, stone that was about as large as Harry's hand.

Carefully Harry inched closer to the stone, looking it over while also reaching out with his Magic, not wanting to touch it in case the Magic around it would react badly to such a thing. With great care his own Magic wrapped around it and pushed into the center of the stone which felt hot to his core in a scorching and violating way; and once he got to the very center of it a strange feeling overcame him, one that Harry swiftly realized was like the one he had gotten back at Ollivander's wand shop when he had first took hold of his second wand; it was as if all he had to do was focus in on the feeling and he would know of everything that had ever happened in the house.

Harry took a deep breath, preparing himself to dive into the Magic of the stone so that he would be able to know exactly what the stone knew-

"BOY!? What the bloody hell are you doing?!" Harry was snapped out of his focus by the loud bellowing of his Uncle causing for him to jerk back. Looking about him wildly he reached out and took hold of a weed near the fence and pulled on it, taking it with him as he backed out of the bushes at the back of the yard, stood up and turned to face his Uncle.

Gulping he raised a shaky hand, putting on a show for his Uncle to make the man think he was frightened _(and maybe he was just a little)_ as he showed off the nasty weed," j-just trying to take c-care of this weed Un-Uncle Vernon," he stuttered, not entirely sure himself if it was fake or not, as he awaited the walrus of a man's reply.

The man looked him up and down a moment, a strange look in his eye, almost as if he was concerned-no, wait, he wasn't concerned, he was _frightened_! Frightened that Harry might find something or see something that he wasn't supposed to; did his Uncle know about that rock? Harry had a feeling that he did, otherwise why would he look so frightened over him finding something that was where the rock was?

Harry tensed, forcing his face to not show his emotions as his Uncle was still looking right at him and he didn't want the man to know that he was aware that anything was even a little bit out of the ordinary.

So he waited with bated breath as his Uncle continued to stare at him for an uncomfortable amount of time before the man shook his head and then glared at the boy," alright, well you've gotten it so I see no reason for you to stay out there! Throw that weed away and come back inside!" and he turned around and stomped back into the house, his departure allowing for Harry to breathe again. Taking in a breath Harry shook his head as he threw the weed away and then went back inside, carefully making sure that he didn't track any mud or dirt into the house, knowing that he would be punished for that even though he was the one that would be doing the cleaning anyway.

With another shake of his head Harry walked through the house and made his way to his cupboard and gathered the cleaning supplies within it and started on the rest of his chores.

.

.

.

.

Harry fidgeted in his spot in the corner as he watched the family of three enjoy the dinner that he had prepared for them-a nice big welcome back feast that would not in a million years be shared with him-and waited for them to call on him for one thing or another.

After some more time they were finished and Harry went to the table and started clearing it, but he was worried that he wouldn't be able to finish his chores again as his Uncle would probably want another appointment that night, as far as he knew Aunt Petunia couldn't really do it for him anymore-no doubt because he had someone _far_ younger and _tighter_ than her to go to now-which is another reason his Aunt hates him and his Uncle goes to him even though he has her.

Mentally shaking his head Harry finished cleaning up and went over to the sink and washed the dishes, the fine tremor he had gained slowly disappearing as time passed, his mind hoping and praying that since his Uncle hadn't interrupted his chore time that meant that he wasn't going to bother him that night, though he knew that he wouldn't be so lucky tomorrow as that was his birthday and the Dursley's loved to treat him especially horribly on that day.

Harry let out a silent sigh of relief as he finished drying the last plate and put it away. He planted his feet on the floor firmly again, a happy feeling filling him as he turned around to head to his cupboard-

He bumped into a large body, one that was _much larger_ than his own and he knew that his luck had run out _(of course this would happen he berated himself, this always happened)_ before his Uncle took hold of his upper arm and tugged him forward, a horrible smile on his lips," get ready _boy_ , you have a long night ahead of you." He sneered as he dragged Harry from the kitchen to the stairs. Harry cast his eyes to the living room and was confused that Aunt Petunia wasn't there, instead only Dudley was in there, sitting in front of the telly with a blank expression on his face and as he was dragged up the stairs a feeling of dread like no other he had felt filled him and he knew that his Uncle wasn't lying.

The second bedroom was thrown open and he was literally kicked inside, landing on his hands and knees he snapped his gaze up, feeling his heart sink as he spotted his Aunt standing there, an even uglier sneer on her face as she looked upon him, but what worried him was the strange fire in her eyes as they tracked his movements as her husband reached down and pulled him into the middle of the room; he heard the door close and the lock slide into place, his fate for the night doing the same as his Aunt finally moved from her place and came towards him.

She reached down and took his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her but he wasn't able to do so for long as she slapped him, hard, the metal ring on her finger digging into his cheek and cutting him, the feeling of warm blood ran down Harry's cheek and he resigned himself to his fate allowing for the woman before him to start ripping his clothes off of him in disgust, horrible words of his worthlessness and how she hated him filling Harry's ears, but all Harry could think about was that he was grateful that he hadn't put his thieving gear on that day.

Soon his Uncle was joining her and the two of them ganged up on the boy, hitting, kicking and at one point whipping him, his Uncle having taken off his belt at some point and whipping his bare back as his wife forced Harry's face into the floor with a heeled shoe, the pointy heel digging into his head and no doubt cutting into him as he was whipped mercilessly.

But as Harry was being whipped the boy heard the telltale sound of clothes being removed, his thoughts being proven correct as he saw his Aunt's shirt and soon her skirt end up on the floor in front of him.

Once those garments were removed from her body she removed her foot from Harry's head, snapped it up and forced something down his throat and, from the tingling that engulfed his body, Harry knew exactly what it was.

He tried with everything in him to stop the effects of the pills force fed to him but knew that it was futile, even with the help of his Magic he was only able to mildly lessen the effects, which he was grateful for as he was turned onto his back, the splintered wood cutting into and aggravating his fresh wounds; Harry watched as his Aunt removed the last of her underclothes and made her way to him.

He wasn't able to watch her finish as his neck was taken hold of and forced back, his mouth forced to face his Uncle who was also descending upon him.

Harry closed his eyes and forced his body to stop feeling as they took him.

He didn't know how long they went at it, all he knew was that he was moved into several different positions and was taken; everything hurt and Harry couldn't move, but finally, after what felt like an eternity they were finished with him.

Panting the two adults took a moment to catch their breath while kissing each other, their love and lust rekindling through this shared experience, and then, they both gathered their clothing and got dressed, his Aunt kicking him in the side and telling him to get up so that he could go back to his cupboard as she didn't want to dirty her hands by doing so.

He got another kick in the side when it took him one second too long to pull himself to his hands and knees and then forced himself to stand on his numb legs, wobbling as he moved out of the room and into the cupboard under the stairs, gingerly walking in and laying down on the ratty cot that lay inside.

Once he was down the door was slammed shut and locked, which allowed for Harry to breathe out a breath of relief as he let his body sink into the cot, finding comfort in the small, but special, blanket that he knew he had come to the Durley's in, forcing his arms to move to grab the blanket and wrap it around his body as best he could as he let out a sigh and made himself rest, waiting for the three other occupants of the house to go to bed before he did anything else.

.

.

.

.

Just as Harry heard the first snore from his Uncle permeate the house he was jolted out of his restful half sleep by a soft noise.

Compelling his body to move, Harry turned over and saw the black silhouette of a cat in the darkness.

Harry smiled as he pulled his body into a sitting position," Blackie," he called softly, reaching a hand out and feeling the cat rub into it, a soft mewling coming from the cat-he almost sounded sad-as he came to rest at Harry's side, purring as he leaned into him.

Harry let out a soft laugh as he continued to pet the cat, remaining silent for a few minutes as he tried to gather himself again.

Blackie shifted to look at the boy as he moved to grab something, reaching into one of his trousers and pulling out one of his wands.

" _Lumos,"_ he whispered and a soft light appeared at the tip of the wand allowing for Harry, and Blackie, to see everything.

The cat let out a strange noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob as he moved around Harry, taking in both the marks adorning his body along with the red blood and white and clear substance that clung to his genitals and backside.

Taking this all in a growl erupted from Blackie as he leaned into Harry, lightly licking at his wounds to help clean him up and all Harry could do was sit there and stare at the cat as he tended to him; when suddenly a quiet gasp left him as he leaned over and brought Blackie into his arms, soft gasps leaving him as he forced himself not to cry but not knowing if he would be able to accomplish such a thing.

Luckily for him he didn't have to make a choice as his feline friend pressed into him and purred louder than he ever had before, the soothing vibration helping Harry to calm down. Squeezing the small body to his Harry let out a breath," thank you, Blackie," he whispered, running his fingers through the soft fur of his feline friend whose response was only to purr louder and harder.

They remained like that for a time before, finally, Harry pulled away and rubbed a hand over his eyes, letting out a self-deprecating laugh as he murmured," yeah, Uncle and Aunty did quite a number on me this time, heh, I wonder what they'll do tomorrow? I was planning on telling them that I'm going to Hogwarts tomorrow since they are going to beat me then too, might as well be beaten badly once than for who knows how long if I waited to tell them right?" he asked his friend.

Blackie let out a mew and rubbed his face against the scars lining Harry's chest, spelling out the word _Freak_. Letting out a hum Harry scratched behind Blackie's ears for a time before he set his wand down and used the light to get dressed in his thieving gear, attaching his wand holsters to his body and putting his wands in them.

He crawled out of the cupboard and made his way to the bathroom and cleaned himself up, using a potion that he had bought on one of his trips to the Alleys on his wounds, dabbing the substance on to some bandages that he then wrapped around his torso.

Once he was finished he reached over and pat Blackie's head," let's go get Hedwig, yeah?" he murmured as he made his way to the attic, climbing in through a door in Dudley's second bedroom, grabbing hold of Blackie and placing him on his shoulder as he pulled himself up into the attic.

A soft hoot greeted him and Harry couldn't help smiling in reply, moving over to his owl and hugging lightly," hello beautiful girl," he whispered as he hugged her before pulling away, smile still on his face," let's get out of here, yeah?" and he pushed open the attic window and slipped out of the house and silently landing on the ground, his snowy owl and feline friend following him.

Harry let out a quiet breath before he began sneaking around the house to the back, making his way to the stone he had discovered before.

When he got to it again he heard a rumbling growl come from Blackie, whose gleaming silvery blue eyes were locked on the stone Harry had found earlier, baring his sharp teeth at it. Harry tilted his head to the side out that but shook his head," Blackie, do you not like that stone?" he asked. The cat let out a strange huffing sound before pressing his body to Harry's.

"So, you really don't like it?" a meow," well, I need to check it out and see what it is, don't worry, I'm not going to touch it, so just sit still and let me work, okay?" he asked. He waited a moment as the cat glared at the stone for a moment before he rubbed his head into Harry's neck.

Harry let out a giggle and reached up to pat his head, murmuring a quiet thank you and then turning his attention on the smooth stone, reaching out with his Magic and pushed it into it, finding the core and bringing to himself, focusing on the Magic within the stone and then, everything went black.

His eyes snapped open and he looked around him in a panic before he realized that his consciousness must have entered the Magic of the stone as he was surrounded by red grid-like lines that outlined what he recognized as the Dursley's house and property, vague lines outlining the rest of the neighborhood, from what Harry could tell but he made himself focus on the Dursley household and, with a breath, brought in all the information that the stone held.

He accidently went over that day first and was able to see himself being beaten and raped by his Aunt and Uncle as Dudley was seated in front of the telly and simply watched it.

Shaking his head Harry tore his gaze from the sight and focused on what else he could see, shortly realizing that he would be able to see everything that has ever happened in the house and once he realized this he started rolling back time, passing by vague images that he knew were of his past abuse but not stopping on any of it.

Then finally, he was back to the time the stone was first placed within the garden.

There was what seemed to be an old man wearing strange clothing-Harry recognized it as being Wizarding robes-that was waving around a wand over the smooth stone then, after a flick of his wrist, he placed the stone within the bushes. After doing so he turned to Harry's relatives who were standing within the threshold of the house and seemed to speak to them before tipping his head and disappearing, leaving nothing but the stone behind.

Harry thought over the strange man and figured he must be a Wizard that knew him and for some reason decided to place this monitoring stone on his relatives property, no doubt to keep an eye on him, but it looked like his relatives were aware of this fact, so had they been lying when they told him Magic didn't exist?

Probably, Harry had no doubt that they were, they had lied to him about so much that it wouldn't be much of a stretch for them to lie about something like this, especially since they were so obsessed with being normal and all that.

After think about it for a bit longer Harry started to look through the timeline, watching everything in fast motion and only slowing it if he saw something that caught his attention, like when he saw that the stone had recorded his leaving the house and other such suspicious activities.

Gulping Harry had a feeling that something bad would happen if someone saw his activities so moved to change it, using his Magic to go through every instance he had crawled through the vents and moved around the house when he wasn't supposed to, changing it to him just sleeping in his cupboard; he didn't really care that the stone also kept track of every time his Uncle violated him and simply ignored such things-if someone wanted to use this stone to try and prove something then Harry wouldn't stop them, all they would get is that Harry was abused and whoever put the stone there in the first place hadn't done anything about even though he obviously had this monitoring stone on the property.

Once he finished with all that Harry checked every inch of the stones' Magic that he could, searching it for the pulling that was connected to his own Magic, and once finding it he carefully untangled it from his Magic, the feeling of being free and not bound to the Dursley's any long filling him, proving that he was correct in assumption that the stone was the reason he always returned to the horrible house no matter how much he wished not to.

Shaking his head Harry instead focused on finding anything else that might be attached to him and his Magic, and finding that there wasn't pulled out of it and back into the real world.

Taking in a gasping breath, Harry opened his eyes and stared at the stone, taking note that it was glowing a soft red before being consumed by a golden glow that had green mixed in with it. After completely consuming the red the gold and green flashed briefly before disappearing, leaving no evidence that it had even been there in the first place.

Harry stared at the stone for a bit longer, taking an educated guess that that had been his Magic before he started backing out of the bushes, Blackie in tow.

"Well," he started as he pat Blackie's head," that was interesting. Whoever the hell put that there is aware that I was being abused but didn't do anything about it. What an arse," he muttered as he stood up and stretched, then he turned to Blackie with a smile and reached down to pet him," ah well, at least that's done and over with. Let's get going yeah?" and with that Harry headed off to the library, thankful that he had all of his books with him in the necklace pouch around his neck, thoughts of how wonderful it was to no longer feel bound to the dreadful house filling him for the rest of the night.

 **[July 31st 1991]**

 _ ***Thunk, thunk, thunk***_

Harry's eyes slowly opened as he pulled himself out of his slumber, pushing himself into a sitting position, raising a hand to rub his eye as his other started to pet a furry black head.

His hand stopped a moment before he sighed softly and continued to pet his friend. He had forgotten that he had fallen asleep with Blackie, now he just hoped his Aunt and Uncle didn't see him.

He let out another quiet sigh as his Aunt banged on his door and yelled at him to get up and make breakfast, Harry calling out a quiet reply as he pulled on his oversized hand me downs, gave one last pat to Blackie's head and then crawled out of his room.

He made his way into the kitchen and started on breakfast, absently keeping track of the sounds of his Uncle and Cousin moving around upstairs, knowing that he only had a couple minutes to finish breakfast if he didn't want to get in even more trouble.

Luckily for Harry he was able to finish breakfast and plate it just as Dudley and his Uncle came into the dining room. A frown was on the larger mans' face, obviously disappointed that he hadn't been able to get into the dining room before his nephew finished but Harry knew that he would no doubt come up with a way to make up for this before breakfast was even done, especially since Harry planned on breaking the news to them during their breakfast-a little birthday present for himself, ruining their meal would bring him great pleasure-but for now he needed to keep his head down so he merely nodded to his Uncle before retreating to his corner, waiting to be called upon by one of his relatives.

It didn't take long for one of them to do just that.

Dudley pushed himself up in his seat, trying to sneer at Harry but not quite succeeding as he demanded the other boy get him some orange juice as he didn't want just the milk he had been given for his meal.

With a nod of his head Harry went about getting his Cousin his new cup of juice and delivered it to him, setting it on the table, he was just about to move away when he stopped, thinking that now would be as good a time as any-

"What are you doing, boy? Get back into your corner!" his Uncle grunted at him causing for Harry's focus to snap to him, and then, he shook his head and gained a determined look on his face. He took a careful step back so that he wouldn't be in immediate reach of Dudley or Aunt Petunia as he squared his shoulders and began.

"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia I have something to tell you."

The two adults froze at his words, giving Harry the chance to continue without interruption.

"Five days ago when I got the post for you Uncle I found a letter in the pile addressed to me. I took it and read it and it was from a school called Hogwarts; after reading it I've decided to go to this school-nowhere in the letter did it say that you had to pay anything so I'm guessing that that is already taken care of so you don't have to-"

"How DARE YOU!?" Harry was suddenly cut off, his Uncle seeming to have regained his wits as he stood from the table, towering over him, but Harry stood his ground, knowing that this would happen.

He didn't quite expect what happened next though.

"After everything we've done for you! After taking you in out of the _goodness of our hearts_ you _still_ went on and became a freaky Wizard!? How _DARE YOU, YOU LITTLE FREAK!_ We have given up so much for you just to raise you and this is how you repay us?!"

Petunia screamed, her eyes wild as she too stood from the table, slamming her hands on the tabletop.

Harry stood there a moment, stunned, but then her words finally registered and he felt anger-no, _rage_ -fill him as he shouted-

"Wait, you knew? You _knew_ that I was a Wizard, that I have Magic?! If you bloody knew that I was a Wizard why didn't you tell me?! **Why did you try so bloody hard to convince me that there wasn't such thing as Magic?!"**

" **You weren't supposed to ever find out! If you had just cooperated, then you would've been a normal boy!?** _ **But NO, you just had to grow up to be a bloody freak-just like your worthless parents!?"**_

" _My_ parents? You told me my parents were drunks that got into a car crash! I _knew_ you were lying about that!" he couldn't help but yell back, and he couldn't bring himself to care when he saw the rage fill Vernon's eyes, then, he was advancing on him, grabbing his arm he started dragging him to the hall.

But, for the first time in years, Harry was struggling against his hold, digging his nails into his arms and scratching him as he tried pulling from his grip-but he wasn't fast enough as Vernon got to the door to the cupboard and opened it.

But he wasn't able to throw Harry in.

 _Rrraow!_

" _Arrgh!"_ Vernon exclaimed as Blackie jumped from his hiding place within the cupboard and attacked his face, slashing and clawing at the large man.

Vernon was forced to let go of Harry who dashed into the cupboard and grabbed what wasn't already in his necklace pouch, then he was out again within seconds to see Blackie still attached to Vernon's face; he was biting his nose and there was blood all over the overweight mans' face and arms.

But any pleasure that Harry might have felt at the sight was dashed when Vernon was finally able to grab hold of Blackie and throw him at the ground, a sickening _thud_ following the motion.

" _ **Blackie!?"**_ Harry screamed as he tried to get to his friend but was grabbed by Vernon and thrown away, slamming into the door of the cupboard he felt a bit dazed as the large man panted over him, a look of malicious glee upon his bloodied features.

"Now where do you think you're going, boy?" he asked in a deadly voice, wiping the blood from his face, wincing as he did so.

Harry's green eyes watched him, eyes wide that of prey, cautiously watching the much larger man as he moved closer.

Looking smug Vernon started up again," you still have your appointment on Wednesday boy, and since you've been behaving so badly, you'll also have to work on Saturday and Sunday as well, there is absolutely nothing that you can do about it, _boy_."

Vernon sneered with glee once again, but his joy was short lived.

A scream tore from Harry's throat, a name left his lips, dashing forwards again and smashing a fist in Vernon's stomach while pushing him away with all his strength, crouched down and gathered the hurt feline in his arms, and then he was dashing away as Vernon tried to grab hold of him again, but he was too late as the front door was flung open and a blur of white came at the larger man, talons digging into the flesh of his face and arms and tearing it away, before attacking the thin faced woman who was coming after her husband, a scream leaving her lips as she fell back; but by the time any of their neighbors made it to them Harry was long gone along with Hedwig, the only evidence of their existence being the cupboard under the stairs and the slashes embedded in the adult Dursley's flesh.

.

.

.

.

In a dark, quiet deserted ally, far from 4 Privet Drive sat Harry Potter, soft gasps leaving him as he leaned against the wall, holding the small body in his arms closer to himself, a choked sob leaving his throat through clenched teeth.

He was wearing his thieving gear along with his black hoodie; not only that but he had cast a Notice-Me-Not charm on himself so that no one would pay him any mind as he moved about in the streets, but that wasn't what mattered at the moment, Harry was in pain, and not physical pain, but emotional.

He felt a sense of worthlessness clog his throat as he brought his friend's body closer, another choked sob escaping him. His heart was still beating, but it felt like it was barely there, and Blackie hadn't moved since he was slammed against the floor by Vernon-Harry refused to call him Uncle anymore-and he was worried that he was dying.

One more choked sob left him and he nuzzled his face into Blackie's fur, he also felt a beak pecking at his ear but he didn't pay it any mind as he knew it was just Hedwig's way of showing affection.

He was just about to lift his face from the fur when he felt it.

The body in his arms moved and a scratchy tongue ran over his cheek in comfort.

He let out a cry of happiness as he once again hugged Blackie before pulling back, tears in his eyes as he looked upon his feline friend whose piercing eyes were alight with life. Blackie leaned forward and again licked him on the cheek.

Harry let out a giggle and nuzzled his face in the soft black fur of his friend, resting there for a moment before pulling back, gentle smile on his face and asked," are you alright?"

Blackie flicked an ear as a purr vibrated from his body causing Harry to giggle again before he carefully set his friend down, reached into his pouch and, after a bit of searching, pulled out some tape bandages and the special healing potion he had purchased from Diagon Alley.

"Hold still a moment," he muttered as he set to work applying the potion and then wrapping Blackie's torso in bandages and after a moment of nuzzling his torso again Harry stood up with his friend in his arms, a smile on his face before he sighed softly, looking off to the side as he murmured," I need to get all my things from my hideout," and then he was off, Hedwig following from above.

.

.

.

.

Harry carefully made his way to his hideout which was located in a field, near a small wooded area and was underground, and crawled inside once he made certain that no one was looking.

Once inside Harry let out a sigh of relief as he glanced around the cave like room.

It was mostly dirt with only a couple things inside it, like a chest and a vault that Harry kept his most prized possessions inside of, but other than that it was just a dug out hole in the ground.

Putting Blackie down Harry scooted over to the vault and pulled out all of the money inside. He had decided the moment his Uncle-no, Vernon-had started yelling that he would leave that toxic house and never return, now, he simply had even more reason to never return.

There was no reason for him to ever return so he never planned on doing such a thing.

When he was finished gathering all of his money that he had made over the past three and a half years he then moved on to the chest where he started to pull out several things that held significance to him, like a collection of beautiful bracelets that he had found while snooping around some ancient ruins or a black teddy bear that had been given to him by a stranger when he was eight in America.

He was just about finished with his packing up when he felt a sudden presence at his back.

But before he was able to react properly a pair of long, strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him in close and, Harry realized with a start, with barely veiled desperation. Whoever was holding him was hugging him and Harry had a hard time believing such a thing.

His thoughts were cut off by a voice,

"I'm sorry," it whispered in a low baritone and Harry's eyes widened, realizing it was a man that was now holding him, and somehow fitting inside his little hideout-but... Something felt familiar about this man, his voice, the feeling he gave off...

"I'm so, _so_ sorry, Harry," he cut off his thoughts once again, and Harry quieted his thoughts as he listened to the man speak on," if I had known, I swear I would have taken you from that house, that horrible, _horrible_ house-! If I had known what your Aunt and Uncle were doing to you, then I would have broken you out of there, damn any consequences! No, I _should_ have broken you out of that house long ago, way before I found about them raping you but I had hesitated and you suffered for it! I'm so sorry Harry..." and then he finished speaking, simply bringing Harry closer to himself and said boy couldn't believe what he was hearing.

His eyes widened as he reached a hand up, laying it softly over the clothed arms that were holding him,

" _Blackie...?"_

He whispered.

Harry felt the arms around him tighten in response and a head leaned onto his shoulder as the man heaved a sigh, and then, he nodded.

Taking in a breath Harry reached around and took hold of some hair, tugging back lightly he guided the man to move around as he turned on the spot. The man had to shift his position some which resulted in Harry sitting in his lap, his legs wrapped loosely around his back as he wrapped his arms around the mans' neck.

Taking in a breath Harry lifted his gaze and looked into the face of this man who had pretended to be a cat.

Sucking in a surprised breath, Harry took in the pale skin and well sculpted face, strong nose, thin lips, thin eyebrows and almond shaped eyes with full lashes framing the beautiful silvery blue eyes that were piercing into his very soul. Harry allowed for his eyes to roam around that face and took note of the short wavy hair that was cut short in the back with some bangs falling over part of his face; Harry reached a hand up and brushed it out of his eyes so that he could have full view of them.

After staring into those striking blue eyes for a couple more seconds Harry tore his own away to look at the rest of the man.

He had a pale neck that was slender but not thin, a defined chest and a trimmer waist; it was hard to tell since he was sitting on them but Harry was able to make out that he also had long legs with well defined thighs that were able to hold him up with no trouble. He was wearing a bottle green tunic with black ties in the front, though, his torso was wrapped up in bandages and black trousers-it was hard for Harry to tell but he was certain that he was wearing some boots as well-the sleeves of his tunic hung loosely over his forearms, a leather cuff was wrapped around his wrist with strange designs impressed upon it but besides that he wasn't wearing any extra ornaments.

Finally finished with his perusal Harry brought his gaze back up and locked his emerald green with the silvery blue of his companion who had remained quiet during his perusal.

Harry tilted his head to the side as he looked at the man for a time, before," were you really injured that day I found you?" he asked with a bit of suspicion leaking into his voice.

The man nodded with a smile," yes, you really did save my life that day, Harry. If you hadn't been there then I surely would have died for I am human but I am a cat when in that form and getting attacked by other, larger animals than myself could have ended me if it weren't for you finding me and tending to my wounds."

Harry nodded his head even though it was still tilted to the side, his eyes trailing over his face a moment before he began to speak again," okay, why have you been a cat for all this time? Were you only a cat around me? You're a Wizard too so can you tell me how to turn into a cat too?" he asked in quick succession.

The blue-eyed man let out a chuckle as he tightened his grip on Harry's waist, bringing the boy closer as he lifted his face a bit, making it easier for him to look at the green-eyed boy.

"I've spent most of the time I've known you as a cat; I'm an Animangus which means that I can turn into an animal, but not just any animal-an Animangus doesn't have control over what type of animal they can turn into so if I were to teach you how to shift your animal might be completely different from mine. I've been a cat for nearly twelve years now…"

He trailed off, seeming to be lost in thought, but Harry brought him back with his next question,

"Why?"

Snapping to attention, he looked at Harry a moment before letting out a resigned sigh," why? That's because… I was supposed to be dead. I was supposed to have died but when I didn't and I woke up I knew that it would be too dangerous for me to try and return to the Wizarding world. I had been one of You-Know-Who's Death Eaters and my death was supposed to be caused by my betrayal of that horrid man, but, I didn't die, but I couldn't return to the Wizarding world, so I took the last option. I hid. Hid in plain sight by becoming a cat and no one was ever aware of this fact, no one knew that I was alive and I was fine with it staying that way-being a cat wasn't so bad so I decided to remain one; that is, until now,"

Lifting his gaze he looked into Harry's eyes, smile relighting his face as he rubbed his nose against Harry's in a cat-like fashion," you're the first person I've shown this side to; no one besides you knows that I'm an Animangus since it's technically illegal to be one without informing the Ministry about it; though, I think it'll be better that you know that I'm an Animangus, who knows, it might help you somehow someday." He stated simply before letting his head fall onto Harry shoulder, a purr like rumbling coming from his chest as he nuzzled against Harry's neck who let out a giggle at the sensation-it being similar yet very different to when the man did it as a cat-and lifted his arms to wrap around his head, letting out a hum as the comforting grip on him tightened as well.

They remained like that for a time, the two simply breathing and showing their affection and emotions through their actions whether it be hugging or nuzzling they simply continued on, uncaring of the passage of time as they were very comfortable in each others' arms; but that peace was cut into when Harry suddenly remembered something.

He very reluctantly pulled away from the arms holding him in order to look into the mans' face. Searching his eyes for a moment Harry finally asked," what's your name?"

The man looked surprised for a moment but then he started to chuckle as he bumped his head against Harry's affectionately," ah, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" he asked rhetorically before he continued.

Leaning back so that he was able to place a hand on his chest the man introduced himself with a kind and caring smile," I am Regulus Arcturus Black, reformed Death Eater and part-time feline, at your service, Harry," he grinned cheekily which widened as Harry giggled at his introduction. With a snicker Harry leaned into the man-Regulus, he reminded himself-and tried to rub his nose against Regulus', who leaned down so that the smaller of the two could accomplish his desire.

After they were finished with that Harry pulled back with a sigh before looking up at Regulus with a content smile," I need to finish packing up, then you'll need to turn back into a cat so that I can sneak into Diagon Alley, okay?"

Regulus nodded," yeah; I might be older but it's possible that other people would be able to recognize me; alright, get up and I'll turn back into Blackie," he helped Harry climb off of his lap and then took in a deep breath and let it out, a bright light engulfing him as he did so and then, in the place of the man was now a cat.

Harry grinned at his friend and ran gentle a hand over his head before turning back around and finishing up his packing, and then when he finished he took out his wand and swished it, murmuring a spell that caused the vault and chest to turn to dust. Once that was done with Harry started to back out of the hole, pulling on ropes that were attached to poles that were holding the ceiling of the cave up, causing it all to cave in , everything closing up as if it never existed in the first place.

At the mouth of the cave Harry flattened it and made certain that it looked like the rest of the scenery so that it would never be discovered. Once he was finished with that he turned back to his feline friend and his owl with a smile," well," he started," it's time to go now," and with that they all headed off, Harry directing Hedwig to meet them at the Leaky Cauldron and, after Harry gave her a kiss on her feathered head, she flew off.

Harry and Regulus-now Blackie again-made their way to a bus station and took the first bus to London, and once they got there they made their way to the Leaky Cauldron, though Harry made a couple stops at several jewelry stores for obvious reasons.

When the two made it to the Magical pub Harry pulled on a cloak with a hood, pulling the hood over his face he made his way through the pub without drawing any attention to himself and made it into Diagon Alley with no problem.

On the other side of the brick wall Hedwig joined them, landing on Harry's shoulder as he and his feline companion made their way through the throngs of people and to Knockturn Alley, somewhere Harry had spent a good portion of his time in, navigating around the shady characters and trailing fingers that were trying to pry away anything they could from Harry's pockets; but, with the grace of someone who had dealt with such things before, Harry avoided such people and their grabby hands and confidently made his way to a pub within Knockturn, the White Wyvern.

Harry stepped inside, Hedwig flying off to land in an area for owls in the establishment while the human and cat went to the bar counter and sat off to the side and waited for the bartender to come and get his order.

It didn't take long for just that to happen and a man with blood red eyes, pale skin and long black hair came over to him with a raised eyebrow, taking in the small figure and his companion for a moment before he sniffed the air, his eyebrow going further up his face as he opened his mouth to speak, elongated canines flashing dangerously,

"You, Young Blood, what are you doing in a place like this?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Harry didn't answer at first, seeming to think over his answer before meeting the blood red gaze with his own emerald green," just want something to drink sir."

The man snorted as he leaned back, his eyes narrowing even further," don't you have a perfect little Wizarding family to go to? Why on earth would you decide to spend your time here, this place ain't safe for humans, Young Blood, you best get out of here before someone decides that you're too irresistible a target to refuse." Harry was surprised that the man-well Creature-had a note of concern in his voice.

Harry raised his gaze again and looked into the eyes of the bartender and found that he did indeed look a little worried for his well-being. Tilting his head to the side Harry allowed for a smile to grace his features, a smile of bemusement but at the same time it was kind," well," he began," if you have to know; I don't have a Wizarding family, I was raised by Muggles and only just recently found out about my Magic, and my relatives were not happy with that so a little-altercation-occured which has led me here. I quite frankly don't care about what anyone thinks they could do to me, actually I'd like to see them try their hand at roughing me up, I highly doubt they'd be able to." He lifted his head to look into his eyes better and let a grin replace his smile.

"Thanks for the concern though, it's quite some time since a complete stranger has done so."

The man stared at the eleven year old for a moment before shaking his head, a chuckle rumbling from his chest as he took in the boy," I can't say I've met a Young Blood with as much spunk as you, human or otherwise. I'm Ezekiel Devonshire of the Devonshire Clan, which is a Clan of Vampires here in England, and you are Young Blood?" he asked while reaching a hand out.

Harry looked at it a moment before taking it into his hand, smiling back at the Vampire," I'm Harry, a Muggleborn who is done dealing with idiots who hate me for something I have no control over, nice to meet you Ezekiel." and they shook hands.

Ezekiel pulled back his hand and smiled at the boy while he placed a hand on his hip," so, what can I get for you, Young Blood?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

Harry raised a brow before tilting his head to the side with a grin of his own," how about some pumpkin juice with a shot of whiskey, yeah?" he asked. Ezekiel merely laughed as he nodded his head, saying that he would be right on it as he went to fill Harry's order, sliding it over to the boy once he was finished.

Harry caught the glass and tilted his head in thanks before downing the contents of the glass, a content hum coming from him as the cool yet burning liquid slid down his throat; he slammed his cup on the table," another," he stated clearly and Ezekiel got him another one, this one Harry sipped on instead as he ordered some food to eat as well, realizing that he hadn't yet eaten that day, and the Vampire served him-he didn't have that many other customers because it was daytime.

Harry spent several more hours in the pub, conversing with Ezekiel and a couple other patrons within the place, discovering that most of them were Creatures and not humans, something that greatly interested Harry, especially after he found out that some of the Creatures were technically illegal because they were "Dark" Creatures; something that they seemed to be disgruntled over but only to a certain extent,

"After all, many of these Creatures took You-Know-Who's side during the war ten years ago," one of the patrons, a seventeen year old Werewolf by the name of Klyn told Harry when he asked why the Dark Creatures were illegal.

Harry nodded his head in thought," hmm, that makes sense….." he muttered as Klyn smiled at him and then they fell into more conversation, talking about things like Klyn having just recently graduating Hogwarts that year (his birthday was in a couple days) and that he wasn't a born Werewolf, being bitten during the summer of his third year by a Feral Werewolf whose Pack had nearly killed him but they had killed his family-he was lucky that he didn't have any scars on his face that would cause questions and that the local Pack that lived near Knockturn Alley had taken him in,

"And I've lived with them ever since and will continue to do so until I find my mate; that's how a proper Pack works!"

He explained to Harry before moving onto other topics.

It was early evening when Harry finally got up to leave, but he was stopped by Ezekiel," where are you going Young Blood?" he asked.

Harry shrugged a single shoulder as he glanced away,

"Hmm, that's the million Galleon question….." he muttered, trying to think of a place that he would be able to crash at for the night; he had just run away after all and not only that but he was a kid so it wasn't like he would be able to get a hotel room without raising suspicion and he really didn't want to stay at the Leaky Cauldron because, while Tom seemed like a nice enough man, he just really didn't want to have to deal with the questions that would follow. He had been able to avoid suspicion so far because he hadn't brought attention to the fact that he was alone and he had acted as if he wasn't alone when he had entered the Alley for the first time so no one had asked why he was alone or where his parents (or Guardians) were but if he tried to stay somewhere everyone would bother him over it.

Harry let out a disgruntled sigh at the thought, he really didn't want to have to put up with that bullshit if he could help it….

"I recall you saying something about an altercation taking place at home which is why you're here," Ezekiel's voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts and the boy saw the Vampire place a finger on his chin, as if in thought but Harry realized he wasn't really," hmm, and if you can't go back home where will you go?" he raised his gaze and locked it with Harry and stared at him a moment before a grin overtook his features.

"Am I correct so far Young Blood?" he asked teasingly. Harry let out a huff while rolling his eyes,

"Yeah, you're right. But come off it, if you don't have anything to add and you just want to make fun of me you can shove it." He declared while glaring at the Vampire, who merely let out a chuckle as he took his hand from his chin and placed it on his hip, cocking it to the side as he replied,

"Now now, there's no need for any of that, Young Blood, I was just thinking that you could stay here; we do, after all, have a couple available rooms on the second floor, you could stay there for as long as you wish, hell, I think I would be able to convince my employer to let you stay until September and to even leave it alone in case you want to come back after the school year….." he trailed off meaningfully and watched Harry for his reaction.

And what was Harry's reaction?

Harry stood there, gobsmacked and staring at Ezekiel as he spoke-he couldn't believe what he was hearing-and when he finished he simply continued his staring before he suddenly shook his head and seemed to think the offer over a moment before turning his gaze to Ezekiel's, a hesitant smile on his face.

"I think, that I might just like that."

"Good," Ezekiel grinned gleefully as he turned to to the other bartender at the counter," hey Greg, look after the front for me would you? I'm going to show Harry to his new room." He stated simply before walking away, uncaring of the heated glare that was directed at him by the gray haired man behind him as he instead focused on leading Harry to the stairs and up them, guiding him to a room close to the back of a hall.

Turning he gestured to the door," there aren't any specific times for meals, you just have to come downstairs if you want something," he pushed the door open and walked in with Harry, Blackie and Hedwig following behind, taking in the well furnished yet simple room that seemed to consist of a kitchenette, dining table and small living room, there was a single couch and chair in it with a wooden coffee table by them with an owl perch by a window that had a curtain pulled over it.

"This is the main living area, over there is the bathroom and beside that is the bedroom, pretty basic actually," Ezekiel explained as he turned to Harry," you're in charge of keeping this place clean, we don't have housekeeping here so if this place ends up like a pigsty then that will be your problem and you will be the one to clean it up before you leave-also, on a personal note I will be keeping a watch on you, nothing serious or intrusive but I will make sure that you're eating at least one meal a day, alright?" Harry nodded his understanding and Ezekiel leaned back with a satisfied smile,

"Good. If you need me I usually work the night shift, I was only working the noon shift because someone couldn't make it. If I'm not here then you can probably find me at The Crystal Cave right next door; that's where me and my Clan lives, come by anytime after twelve as I'm usually sleeping earlier in the day, you got all that?"

"Yeah, thanks Ezekiel, how much for the room?" Harry asked in curiosity and was suspicious of the smile the Vampire threw his way,

"Well for tonight, nothing, the first night is always free, but after tonight, well, that depends on you. If you keep this place tidy enough and have a good attitude while staying here then your total sum won't be that much, but if you let this place get ruined and have a bad attitude then you'll have to pay a hefty sum." He grinned at Harry," we don't usually tell anyone that, so keep it to yourself okay?" he asked as he lifted finger to his lips.

Harry let out a giggle as he nodded," yeah, I think I can do that, unless, of course, you mistreat me or make me spend an abhorrent amount by the end of the month….." he trailed off meaningfully, but all Ezekiel did was laugh,

"Of course, Young Blood, well, I need to be getting back, Greg is pissed enough as it is, any longer and he'll tell boss and I'll be in a world of trouble." he started walking away, waving at Harry," see you later Young Blood,"

"See ya Ezekiel!" and with that he was out the door.

Harry stood in the middle of the room for a moment before Blackie meowed at him and rubbed against his leg. He looked down and smiled at him, scratching behind his ears as he whispered," let's go check out that room, hmm?" and made his way to the bedroom.

Once inside he noticed that it was a pretty basic room. It had a queen sized bed with a nightstand with a lamp on it to one side and a drawer.

It was basic.

It was more than Harry had ever had.

With a laugh Harry jumped onto the bed, finding it to be both bouncy and soft; he let out a sigh of content and simply lay there for a moment, but then he made himself get out as he started setting up the room.

He placed Hedwig's perch near the window of the room and opened it afterwhich he cast a couple spells on the window so that nobody would be able to look in and no unwanted visitors would be able to get in, then he cast a spell on Hedwig that allowed for her to come and go as she pleased, something she nuzzled him happily over.

Once that was done with he fed her then started taking out papers that were full of plans for his heists and started pinning them to the walls and the table that he brought from the living room. After all that he went to the bathroom and took a long, soothing shower, washing himself of the grim from the day and letting his anger and frustrations be washed away with it.

After that he went back to the pub with Blackie and got food for the both of them, staying as he talked with a couple of the partons and Ezekiel for some time.

By the time it was 11 PM Harry decided it was time to head to his room and excused himself, wishing Ezekiel a fun rest of his night and laughed as the Vampire groaned loudly.

Once he and his little companion got back to the room Harry returned to the bedroom and changed into a large long-sleeved black shirt that actually didn't belong to Dudley; he had gotten it from Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions specifically for sleeping in.

But he didn't intend on going to bed quite yet and instead made his way to the plans laid out over the table and walls and sat down to look them over-

"Oi! Put me down!" he shouted as arms suddenly wrapped around him and he found himself thrown over a shoulder," I said put me down you bloody-eep!" he let out a squeak as he was unceremoniously thrown onto the bed and bounced there for a second, but he didn't get a chance at getting up or even shifting in place as a much larger body fell over him, keeping him from moving.

But that didn't stop him from trying!

Harry tried to wriggle out from under the heavy body on top of him but couldn't as arms wrapped around him and held him in place; Harry struggled a bit longer before going limp, an annoyed grunt coming from him as the weight pressed into him more.

"Get off of me you bloody wanker," he muttered with a pout, lifting his hips to try and alleviate the heavy body weighing down on him.

A chuckle was his reply," will you stay still?" he asked. Harry's pout deepened but he nodded his head, and then the boy was free of the heavier body.

Letting out a sigh of relief Harry sat up but didn't move to do anything else, before turning and glaring at the blue-eyed man sitting next to him, causing him to laugh.

"Now now Harry, no need for any of that," but the pout persisted, so Regulus let out a sigh," you've had a long day Harry, you need to go to bed so that you can wake up refreshed tomorrow, okay?"

Harry pouted up at the man for a moment more before he let out a petulant sigh, tilting his head away from the man as he mumbled," okay, fine," and then crawled over the bed in order to get comfortable, but stopped when he felt the body next to him move.

Turning his head to the side Harry watched as Regulus stood from the bed and started taking off his clothes, leaving on only his tunic. After he was done undressing he turned to Harry and smiled," I hope you have a restful sleep, goodnight Harry," and made his way to the door, but was stopped as a small body jumped onto his back.

Twisting his head around the best he could, all Regulus could see was the messy black hair on Harry's head as he asked," what is it? Is something wrong?" a shake of the head was his answer.

Lifting his arms Regulus let one support Harry's weight while the other reached around to pat Harry on the head," are you sure?" fell from his lips. Another nod and a lift of a head brought Harry's beautiful green eyes look into Regulus' own blue eyes,

"Stay."

Harry stated simply.

Regulus remained still for a moment, then he pat Harry's head again," do you want me to sleep in here?" he asked softly. Harry nodded again. A sigh and a chuckle," okay, I'll stay."

Harry nodded his head once more and climbed down from Regulus' back, landing on the floor he reached out and took hold of his hand and started pulling him to the bed, urging the man to climb into it too as he pulled himself into the bed, waiting for Regulus to make himself comfortable.

Said man looked at Harry a moment longer before he pulled the covers back, grabbed Harry and situated them both in the middle of the bed while bringing the comforter over the both of them.

Harry wriggled around a little bit before he stopped half on top of Regulus, a content hum vibrating from his throat.

Regulus let out his own hum in return as he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Harry's crown," goodnight Harry," he murmured into his hair.

The boy nuzzled his face into Regulus' shoulder, laying a tentative kiss there," goodnight….. Regulus," and with that the two settled in for the night.

[August 1st 1991]

Harry was stirred from his sleep by a small, strange, noise.

His eyes fluttering he started to move in order to see what it was but was stopped by the arms wrapped tightly around him.

Looking up Harry caught the eyes of Regulus who lifted a hand and placed a finger over his lips, Harry nodded his understanding as the man pulled his body up and over Harry, crawling out of the bed and shifting into a cat as he did so, and once he was finished, and with the help of Harry's Magic, opened the door to the living room and went out.

Harry lay in his bed for a time, his eyelids started to feel heavier the longer he waited, but just before they fell all the way-

Rraow!

The boy bolted out of his bed and ran for the door, throwing it open and rushing into the other room, only to find Blackie attacking a strange man.

He had almost white skin and was bald with long ears protruding from his head, he was short and was wearing a black robe.

"Blackie!" Harry called sternly, the feline running to his side as he did so, leaving the scratched up creature on the floor who was panting; then, he raised his face , allowing Harry to see the small, beady black eyes and long crooked nose and sharp teeth, making the boy realize that this wasn't a man-it was a Goblin.

Narrowing his eyes just a little Harry pointed the wand he had in his hand at the face of the Goblin," who are you, and why are you here?" he asked evenly. The creature shook in place, while Harry was doing everything in his power to remain calm as he waited for a reply.

The goblin trembled in place, not moving a muscle which caused for Harry to start losing his patience and narrow his eyes even more, and for him to angle his wand at the creatures crotch, which made it tremble even more as it started whimpering,

"N-n-no! P-please don't!" he screeched while throwing his hands in front of his crotch, sweat pouring off of him as his breathing got heavier. Harry merely raised a brow at the trembling goblin, completely unimpressed by the sight.

"Then answer me. Who are you and why are you here?" he stated firmly, to which the creature nodded his head vigorously in response. He sat up in a kneeling position and then bowed his head,

"I am Crookedfang of Knockturn Alley and I am here to ask you something!" he basically pleaded. Harry stared at the pale creature for a time, purposefully aggravating the nerves of Crookedfang to make sure that he wasn't lying before finally answering.

"What did you want to ask me and why did you have to break into my room to do it?" he asked slowly, letting his displeasure color his words. Crookedfang trembled some more before lifting his head, an unsure fanged smile lighting his face.

"Ah! Um, about that…. I-I wanted to make certain that I could catch you! Afterall what I am going to ask you is very private business and I wouldn't want just anyone to overhear me!"

Harry caught on to the little creatures words immediately and, crouching down in front of him, asked," you want to hire me for something illegal, huh?"

The pale goblin looked very surprised at his blunt statement before he started to nod his head again vigorously," y-y-yes! That is exactly why I am here! You see, I run a little business here in Knockturn; if someone has something they went to get off their hands I take it. Anything that I can sell I will take, anything of value I will take! But, recently, it's been harder to get my hands on such things! Not only that but all of my workers are leaving and going elsewhere for work! Not because I can't pay them but because they think that I need to pay them more than I already am! So I need new workers now; I've seen you about the Alley for the past couple days and yesterday I saw you in the bar and I noticed that you may just have some potential, so I've come to ask if you would like to, let's call it a try-out, in order to work me for. Whadaya say?"

Crookedfang finished with a crooked smile.

Harry looked back at him for a time, thinking over what it was he was asked, making certain that he understood what was being asked of him," so, what you're saying is that you own a business where you buy and sell items that aren't legal and that you have been losing business and workers, am I correct?" Crookedfang nodded his head unsurely while Harry nodded to himself in satisfaction, placing a finger on his chin he looked up in thought before turning his head down to the pale Goblin with a wicked smile.

"Well, Crookedfang, I think I might just take you up on your offer, but," he cut in before the goblin was able to say anything," if I get hired, I have a couple requirements. First; just to get this out of the way, I am a thief. I like stealing and challenging myself with harder and harder steals, but, while I wouldn't say I'm a good person per-say, I would like to think I'm decent, so if you want me to steal from innocent people or people who are down and under I will have to decline. Second; I don't know much about the Magical world yet as I only just recently found out about it, so if I get the job you will answer any questions that I have. Third; I am not below being petty so if you slight me I will get back at you but worse-unfortunately for you I am incredible at gathering information, which includes blackmail material; so, if you don't want to get on my radar you better not piss me off. "

"Luckily for you," Harry continued with a disarming smile," I like to think of myself as an easygoing kid so it's pretty hard to piss me off enough to retaliate. Now, this fourth one isn't really a requirement, I just want you to know; I like taking people out-and I don't mean killing them, I just like taking their things. Now, let's say that one of the shop owners of Diagon was overpricing their goods and or stealing things from their customers. Well, I would then expose them for the cheats that they are! I don't like people like them, people who steal like that are just annoying little buggers that were never able to learn how to better use their talents or are jealous of another persons' happiness, so, I expose them, I do this to rich people who are right gits to others for no reason, so if you want to steal from a high ranking family then I will be very willing to do just that. Now, is that all acceptable?"

Crookedfang stared at Harry for a while in awe and mild confusion before he shook his head and grinned up at the eleven year old.

"Yes, yes that will do just fine! Now, would you like to do this now or…"

"Later if you wouldn't mind, I still need to get dressed and I'm hungry, so how about in an hour we leave, yeah?" a nod later and Harry was holding out his hand in order to finalize the deal," alright then Mr. Crookedfang, I'm Harry and I look forward to working with you!" they shook hands before Harry reached back and bopped him on the head, still smiling," and if I catch you sneaking into my rooms again I'll hex you. Well, see you later!" looking at the boy in fear Crookedfang nodded his head afterwhich he backed out f the room, turning around and swiftly left.

Harry stood in front of the door for a couple extra seconds, seemingly lost in thought which he was broken out of by the sudden presence of Regulus. Looking up at the man he tilted his head to the side, to which Regulus' response was to raise an eyebrow.

They stood there staring at each other for a couple minutes before Regulus gave in and started talking," so, why did you agree to work for him?"

Harry stared at the man a little longer before he let out another wicked grin," well," he began, a strangely innocent lilt to his voice," I'm bored. My plans for the rest of this year have been dashed because of this whole Magical business, so when he offered me a job I thought 'why not?' it's not like I have anything fun to do before the school year starts anyway! That and doing this will probably also be very beneficial; I'll be getting up close and personal with some of the Wizarding culture, something I thought would be very useful." he gave a shrug as he turned around and headed for the bedroom, Regulus close behind,

"You could always ask me about the Magical world, it's not like I spent most of my life here or anything…." the man grumbled, feeling a little useless to the boy, but those thoughts were cut off by the laugh coming from said boy.

Harry glanced over his shoulder at him, a smile on his lips," you haven't been in the Magical world for, what did you say? Twelve years? If I have something I want to know that I think you might know I'll ask you, but for now, I think it'll be best if I play it stupid-and the best way to play it stupid is by being stupid, but after I ask my questions I'll talk to you, alright?"

Regulus stared at the boy with a bemused expression as he nodded his head, causing for Harry to let out another laugh.

"Oh, stop being such a sourpuss," he remarked as he started pulling off his sleeping shirt, showing off the bandages wrapped around his torso.

Harry reached a hand up and pet the bandages in thought," I need to change these," he muttered as he started carefully unwrapping them.

Regulus watched Harry for a moment before he let out a sigh and moved around him in order to pick up and put on his own clothes; after he was finished he turned to the boy next to him and saw that he was trying to rewrap his wounds but was having a bit of a hard time doing it, so, he moved over and helped dab the bandages in potion before wrapping it on, carefully putting it on and making certain that it was tight enough to stay on but not too tight.

As he did this Harry remained still, allowing for the man to finish his task without fighting against it as a pleasant warmth filled him from the action; it was a strange experience as Harry was very used to doing things on his own and not getting any sort of help from others, so having someone there, being caring and kind made him feel warm in happiness.

It didn't take long for Regulus to finish his self-assigned task and once he was done he remained still for a moment, his hands resting on Harry's shoulders and he stared at the back of his neck for some time, seeming to be lost in thought but was snapped out of it as Harry shifted in place.

Shaking his head Regulus pulled his hands away and stood up, moving to stand in front of the green-eyed boy," do you want me to wait outside?" he asked with a soft smile.

Glancing up at the man through his lashes Harry returned the smile, tilting his head to the side while also shaking it," no, its fine," and then moved to get dressed in his thieving gear, pulling on his black cloak. After that he moved over to Hedwig, petting her feathers and filling her feeder and refilling her waterer.

"There you go girl, we'll be back later." He smiled and pressed a kiss to her head, letting out a giggle as the snowy owl nibbled at his cheek before letting out a soft hoot and making herself comfortable on the owl perch.

After that Harry walked back over to Regulus," let's go," he murmured. He nodded before shifting into a cat afterwhich the two of them made thier way to the pub and sat at the counter.

Harry ordered something for him and Blackie and they quickly ate it before moving over to the entrance where they found Crookedfang leaning against the building with his arms crossed and his back hunched over.

In Harry's opinion he overall looked pathetically creepy.

Raising a brow at the sight Harry silently walked up to the goblin and tapped him on the shoulder, startling the creature into nearly screeching while whirling around to look at the perpetrator, only to come face to face with the glowing green eyes of Harry Potter.

Panting for a moment the goblin took in a deep breath before letting it out, glaring at the eleven year old which only caused for him to grin back at him. He wasn't able to hold up the glare for long and so his facial expression went back to the look of crooked nervousness, his eyes shifting all over the place until they settled on Harry.

"Follow me," he whispered as he made his way away from the White Wyvern, moving through the throng of people with Harry following closely behind the little creature, weaving in and out of the bodies and thieving hands attempting to take what he has from him.

It didn't take long for the three to get to a rundown little building that was blackened near the bottom and top of it, random planes over it seeming to be peeling and falling apart.

Raising a brow up at the building as he followed Crookedfang, his eyes roving over everything and taking in the interior. He was mildly surprised to find that the place was at least twice the size larger on the inside than the outside would make it appear; the walls had been painted in a beige color that was now peeling in places, once plush carpet and three doors leading to who knows where, all of which were on the ground floor.

There was a staircase leading up to a platform with a polished railing that had large wooden double doors leading somewhere (probably an office, Harry thought) which he soon found was true as Crookedfang led him right to it and had him sit down in one of the once plush chairs.

"As you can obviously see, my business has indeed been going down," the goblin commented as he sat down in his own chair, a weary crooked smile on his face," I only have one other employee now and they are out working, so you won't be meeting them for now. Though for right now we will be focusing on you and your, shall we call it, introduction to my business….. I have a job for you, just a little something, nothing too hard…."

Looking at him in anticipation Harry merely nodded his head.

"There is a shop here in Knockturn that likes to sell…. interesting artefacts called Borgin and Burkes. I want you to take something from there, I don't really care what as long as it can be sold, if you accept this position then you have two hours to complete this task. Now, do you have any questions?" he asked with a sly grin.

Looking up in thought for only a moment Harry swiftly turned to the creature with a simple question," do you have the blueprints to the building? If not I'm sure I can manage without, but it'll be easier if you do." He finished with his own grin.

Crookedfang looked surprised, until he shook his head and grinned even wider at the boy before him," why, of course I do, I have the blueprints of every building in this Alley, now let me find them first…" he trailed off, pulling open the draws in his desk and ruffling through them, grumbling nonsensically as it was made obvious he couldn't find what he was looking for, his grumbling getting louder and louder the longer it took him to find the blueprints before, finally, he gave a shout of triumph and dragged out a tube with a strap on it.

"Here it is!" He exclaimed after he opened the tube up and took a peek inside; he then closed it and handed it over to Harry with a crooked grin," I do believe all of the plans are in there, if not, well too bad, your two hours have just begun; now, shoo, get planning and get to Borgin and Burkes," and at the sight of long, clawed fingers shooing him away, Harry got up, made a hasty and short farewell by inclining his head and then turned around and left the office.

After exiting the building Harry made a beeline for the White Wyvern, but instead of walking in through the door, he scaled the wall and climbed through his bedroom window; setting his newly acquired plans on the coffee table and pouring over them, not paying the softly purring feline at his side any mind, his entire focus on the blueprints.

He looked over them for nearly half an hour before he picked them back up, rolled them up and put them away, quiet muttering flowing from his mouth as he walked around the room a second, verbally thinking over what he had just learned while also checking his gear, silently cursing his luck that hadn't allowed for him to finish making the basics of the Magical adjustments he had started to make on them-something that would be very helpful in his thieving in the Magical world-but he shook his head," I'll just have to finish it later," he spoke resolutely and finished adjusting his gloves, turned towards the window and made his way over, reaching down and patting Blackie as he did so, muttering," I'll be back later, best if you stay here for this," leaned down and placed a kiss on the felines ear and then he was jumping out of the window.

Once he was on the ground he pulled the hood of his cloak up and blended in with the crowd-which was much harder to do as there weren't that many people walking about Knockturn Alley while the sun was out, but he made do with what he had and stealthily made his way all the way to Borgin and Burkes.

It didn't take him too long to get to the building that housed the shop and, after looking over it a couple times, Harry stealthed over to a back alley and scaled the wall, making his way to the roof of the structure and bending on all fours, crawling across the building so that he wouldn't be caught.

But then, all of a sudden a strange noise pierced the air, forcing Harry halt in place; he didn't know if that noise was caused by him or something else so he remained completely still for a whole minute.

After his heart calmed Harry allowed for his body to move. He slowly pushed himself up and looked into the window of the shop which was empty so he looked over to the street and spotted a dark skinned being with yellow streaked black hair that was braided who had a strange looking creature sitting on their shoulder. It looked a bit like a bird but at the same time also a dog or cat. Harry's observation was cut short as the creature straightened itself and let out the same piercing noise which cased for the being that it was sitting upon to reach a hand up and pat its' head, calming it.

Knowing where the noise had come from and that he was not in danger of being discovered he started to move again, carefully crawling across the roof, inching his way to the edge he pulled himself up to it and looked over the roof which allowed for him to once again look into the shop. There was a door and the windows he had spotted just a moment ago, and now that he wasn't distracted Harry was able to look into the building and actually make out what was within the building, which were several odd instruments and strange looking….. things which filled up the shop.

Tilting his head to the side the boy was a bit confused over what this place could possibly be selling but he shook the thought from his head-this was Knockturn Alley, after all, it was bound to be something Dark or Dangerous.

With another shake of his head Harry started crawling again, stealthily making his way to a small, inconsequential window in the side of the building and carefully, without Magic, picked it open, pulling himself through the little opening while also bringing out a rope with a hook at the end and attaching it to the ledge of the window, silently allowing for him to ease his way down to the floor, not making a sound as he did.

At this point Harry had already taken off his cloak and pulled the mask on his shirt up and pulled the hood attached to it over his head-he didn't want anyone seeing his face-and he looked around, taking in the small room he had climbed into and deducing that it was some sort of small storage closet. After making that observation Harry walked away from the rope, leaving it there for when he made his exit and carefully opened the down.

Peeking out of the room he looked up and down the hallway, making certain that there wasn't anyone around before stepping out.

Moving over to the opposite wall Harry shook out his hands a second, then reached up to the wall while sending a pulse of his Magic into his hands and feet-or more specifically, his gloves and boots-afterwhich he placed them on the wall, climbing up it and then attaching himself to the ceiling.

He remained still for a moment, testing if the Magic that he had spelled into his gloves and boots would hold him to the ceiling, and was glad when the Magic didn't let up and allowed for him to stick to the ceiling with little problems.

Silent as a mouse, Harry crawled across the ceiling of the building, keeping the blueprints in mind as he navigated his way through the many rooms, taking in all the strange looking artefacts that were being kept in the place before making a stop in the main room.

Looking around, Harry didn't see much that caught his eye, that is, until he spotted the withered hand sitting upon a old-but plush-pillow that was sitting on a shelf.

Tilting his head to the side, Harry took in the odd sight as he made his way over to it, carefully standing up on the ceiling while taking it in for a couple seconds before, with careful hands, he took the hand and placed it within a bottomless bag he had grabbed from his rooms.

Now that he was done with that, Harry looked around the room for more artefacts and by the end of his excursion he found and took five other items.

The first was a gnarled tree that was about as big as Hedwig's wing that had burnt orange leaves and nearly black bark; the second was an opal necklace that gave Harry a bad feeling so he wrapped it up in some cloth before placing it in his bag; the third was a pair of bracelets that, when Harry put one on, caused for him to teleport to the other one which was disorienting for a moment; the fourth was a locket that had beautiful gems embedded in it that Harry felt was very important to his Magic for some reason, and the fifth was a pair of black gloves with one large red ruby embedded in the backs of each.

After placing all of these things into the bottomless bag, and after making certain that no one had seen him taking anything, Harry started making his way back to the storage closet-

"Who's there!?"

A voice suddenly yelled, nearly causing for Harry to lose his grip on the ceiling. He started falling but he caught himself on one of the beams on the ceiling, holding on as he tried to redirect his Magic to his gloves and boots.

Staying perfectly still, the boy concentrated on his new task as a man that appeared to be in his thirties walked around under him, looking back and forth with a stern frown. He rummaged through the shelves and behind the counter, obviously looking for Harry, but said boy used this to make a hasty escape, not making a sound except for the scraping of his boot against one of the boards on the ceiling,

"Where are you?!" the voice shouted again, but Harry paid it no heed as he swiftly made his way to the rope hanging from the window, climbing up it faster than he had ever climbed before, and just like that he was out and locking the window once again.

But he didn't relax yet as he crawled as fast as he could across the rooftop and over to the back alley, from there he made his way to the building Crookedfang had taken him to, knowing he was almost out of time, flying through the door and up the stairs, stopping at the chair sitting in the office just as Crookedfang turned around his chair with a pocket watch hanging from his hand, crooked grin in place as he called out,

"Time. That was very close boy, best be careful next time-if there is a next time. Now, what did you, ah, procure from Borgin and Burkes?" the goblin asked, his grin stretching even wider, steepling his hands in front of his chin he tilted his head," well? What are you waiting for? A written invitation?" he asked, annoyance filling his voice.

Instead of feeling cowed by the annoyed goblin, Harry couldn't help but grin as he walked right in front of the desk as he held up the bottomless bag he had used to store the items.

After setting the bag on the desk, Harry reached in and carefully felt around, grabbing hold of something he pulled it out and set it on the desk, then he did it again, and again, and again, before finally all five pieces were out and spread over the wooden desk.

"Hmm, what have we here?" Crookedfang muttered as he leaned forwards, looking over the bracelets and necklaces; he eyed the tree with a strange expression and looked over the gloves, hums of interest rumbling strangely from his throat, peculiar sounds also started to fall from his lips, startling Harry as it sounded almost like he was both speaking and scratching the back of his throat along with another, indecipherable component that Harry wasn't able to put his finger on.

He then realized with a start that the goblin was speaking-was this native Goblin tongue? If so, Harry was keen on learning such a fascinating sounding language-but for now he needed to get back to business.

Clearing his throat Harry rapped his knuckles on the desk, drawing Crookedfang's attention back to him which caused for him to stop speaking that bizarre sounding language. He cleared his throat, sitting up straighter while a nervous smile crawled across his face," ahem, I apologize for getting lost in thought there, hem, well, are there any questions you have for me?" he asked awkwardly, his posture stiffening the more he spoke.

Tilting his head to the side as he stared at him, Harry thought for only a moment of any questions he might have and then, with a grin stretching across his face, he started," well, what is all this worth? You asked me to steal something and I know I stole some good pieces, but what are they actually worth?"

Crookedfang remained silent for a time, his eyes dancing over the objects in front of him as he contemplated Harry's question. And then, with a shake of his head, he started pointing to the different pieces," well," he began," this opal necklace will no doubt be worth a hefty amount, there are many Purebloods who would pay a pretty Galleon for something like it-I can sense a sort of Dark Magic from it so best if you don't touch it with your bare hands; now the gloves are a pair of gloves that allow for the user to be able to see the true value in any artefact, especially Magical ones and will no doubt be worth several hundred Galleons. The bracelets allow for one to teleport to the other wherever it may be-I believe not even an Anti-Apparating charm will be able to stop it. I don't know if it will be worth much as Purebloods wouldn't be all that interested in such a thing, hmm, perhaps a Half-blood or a Muggleborn would, ah, appreciate it more. I don't know how much I'll be able to sell them for though, but I know I'll be able to sell it for quite a lot. The locket is interesting, but it has a spell on it as well and will only open with a Wizard's Magic, so you will need to do that before bringing it back for me to asses. Then there is that tree you grabbed…" he trailed off for a moment as his eyes traveled over the gnarled tree once again, before, with a dismissive shake of his head he turned away from it,

"Hmph, it's worthless to me; I don't sell plants and I don't plan on starting anytime soon; you can have it for all I care, it's of no value to me."

Tilting his head to the side, Harry gave the goblin a long look as his hands pulled the tree and locket to his chest, holding them protectively until he brought out his bottomless bag and carefully placed the tree and locket in it.

"Hmm, you can leave now; you passed the test and I will contact you later when I have work for you to do." Crookedfang spoke with a dismissive air, waving a hand at Harry as he turned away in his chair, the bracelets in his hands as focused his attention on them, judging them even more than he had already.

Harry stared at the creature for a moment longer before, with a shake of his head, he knocked on the desk while muttering a quiet goodbye and a," I'll see you later then," turned and left the building, making his way back to the White Wyvern.

Walking through the pub Harry spotted Ezekiel. The Vampire was serving a customer so Harry merely lifted his hand with a little wave before heading up to his room.

Walking into his bedroom Harry spotted Blackie lounging on the bed, his silvery blue eyes half-lidded, his tail gently swaying over the edge of the bed. Smiling, Harry moved over to the bed, taking off his cloak along the way.

He climbed into the bed and curled around the feline who started to purr loudly in response. Harry let out a giggle as he felt the talons of his owl enclose around his side in a gentle grip.

Reaching a hand up, Harry ran his fingers through the soft downy feathers on Hedwig's chest.

The three of them remained that way for some time, enjoying the peaceful silence surrounding them.

But, all good things must come to an end-in this instance it ended when the door to the bedroom opened.

"Young Blood? Have you eaten lunch today?" Ezekiel asked as he pushed the door open. Lifting his head, Harry looked at the Vampire with tired eyes, raising his brow at the Creature in mild annoyance.

Ezekiel merely placed his hands on his hips firmly, raising his own eyebrow," well? I asked you a question. Have you eaten lunch today?"

Harry glared at the Vampire for a moment longer before letting out a sigh, pushing his body up, which caused for Hedwig to flap her wings and fly to the bed, messing up Harry's hair in the process.

"Fine! No, I haven't eaten lunch yet… I was busy okay? It's not like I need to eat much anyway…" the boy trailed off, a pout downturning his lips. A strange look overcame Ezekiel's face; staring at Harry for a long moment, until, he appeared right in front of Harry, picked him up, and then disappeared from the room.

"OI!?" Harry yelped a second later, only to realize that he was no longer in his room and instead in the pub. Looking around in bewilderment Harry wondered how he ended up downstairs while Ezekiel placed him on a stool, walked around the counter and stopped in front of him.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts Harry looked up at the Vampire who grinned back at him as he leaned over the counter.

"So? What would you like to eat?" he asked, his grin widening as Harry's pout deepened. Letting out a huff, Harry crossed his arms in petulance, glaring at the shelves and bottles of alcohol instead of the one in front of him.

"... What I had yesterday….. please." He muttered as a blush crept onto his cheeks, he still wasn't used to others caring about his wellbeing.

And because of the fact that he was looking away from him, Harry completely missed the warm smile Ezekiel sent his way as he made his way to the back to start making his food.

It didn't take long for Ezekiel to return with his food, or for Blackie to come bounding down the stairs and jump onto the counter next to Harry. he feline leaned into Harry and started to purr as Harry ate his food, a smile upturning his lips as he softly conversed with the Vampire in front of him as other patrons of the pub started to arrive and take seats around the place, the noise level steadily rising with quiet whispers and jovial exclamations.

It was loud and cramped and Harry had never been in such a situation voluntarily.

It was the warmest and happiest he had ever been.

Harry stayed up for a long time, long into the night as he talked with Ezekiel and some of the other patrons, and while he was being careful and a bit closed off, he was having a grand old time with these other beings.

It wouldn't be until early morning that Harry would head back up to his rooms and go to sleep, a peaceful smile on his lips.

 **[August 2nd 1991]**

Being woken by an owl pecking at his window Harry got up and checked what the avian wanted with him, swiftly discovering that it was a notice from Crookedfang who wanted him to be at HQ within a certain amount of time. So, he got dressed, bantering with Regulus as he did so who remained seated on the bed, laughing and feeling for the first time in his life truly carefree.

After he was finished he went down to the bar with Blackie and got something to eat afterwhich they headed out and made for the building Crookedfang was set up in.

That was when the eleven year old met his co-worker, who was a twenty year old man by the name of Cecil that had yellow streaked black hair and dark skin.

Crookedfang then directed the two of them to move some merchandise from the basement to another location, where they were told that some customers would be looking at it. They were also told to leave immediately after delivering the merchandise-which Harry merely scoffed at, he was going to stay behind because of course he was.

After Harry and Cecil moved the merchandise, and after Harry was finished spying on Crookedfang, Harry spent the rest of his day going to different stores and buying things, along with stealing some more blueprints from multiple places.

He even spent some time in Gringotts, mostly talking to the goblins that worked there, but he was also mapping the place, finding places that he would be able to break in-he wanted to find the blueprints of the place so that he could study them, he is a thief afterall.

On his way back to the White Wyvern Harry spotted a shop that looked a lot like a tattoo parlor. Stopping in his tracks Harry jumped over to the window, mouth open in awe as he took in what was happening inside.

There was a large, burly man with firetruck red hair that was brushed away from his face wearing gloves and a wand in his hand. He was holding it to a woman's shoulder and carefully moving it down as his lips moved, a trail of what looked to be ink following the path the wand was making.

Harry practically had stars in his eyes as he took in what the man was doing, before his eyes were stolen away from that and to another person, a woman with bright yellow hair who was giving someone a piercing. She too was using her wand and Harry saw her lips moving as she gave them a piercing as well.

Harry felt excitement fill him as he bounced away from the window and rushed off to the White Wyvern, burst into his room and picked up Blackie and then ran back out, heading back to the tattoo parlor and entering the establishment.

The first response to him entering wasn't the nicest, but Harry was eventually able to get them to explain what it was that they did-they did Magical tattoos that have enchantments woven into them for just about anything and they also did the same with earrings.

After a bit of deliberation Harry decided on some earrings that would allow for him to hear gossip and secrets, which would help Harry gather information; he also asked them to input a charm that would let him understand other languages, mainly Magical ones as he already understood and was learning human languages because of his traveling around the world for his thieving.

Sadly they weren't able to do much with that as in order to make such a charm, one needed to first know the language that they were inputting and there weren't many humans that knew languages of Creatures.

Disappointed but not discouraged, Harry still got the earrings, which were some stud earrings made from ebony that had small streaks of white running through them. After getting his own earring he also had Blackie get an earring on his left ear that was made from a green emerald that was attached to a silver hook.

After that was all over and done with, and after he had paid the workers, Harry headed on back to the White Wyvern, spending the rest of his day lounging about with Regulus and Hedwig.

After Regulus questioned Harry on why he had made him get an ear pierced, and after Harry explained that he had done it in order for Regulus to be able to gather information while Harry was busy doing other things the boy gave the man a book about Magical Healing that he had gotten before finding the tattoo parlor, causing the man to no longer be angry at him for making him get his ear pierced and let out a noise of interest hug him tightly, saying thank you over and over again.

Harry merely laughed at his friend's reaction before urging him on to read it as he made his way over to Hedwig, allowing for Regulus to start reading without a distraction, but he was also merely spending some quality time with his familiar.

 **[August 31st 1991]**

Harry let out a sigh of relief as he finished putting the last of his school clothes and supplies into his school trunk, which he had bought for the sole purpose of keeping others from knowing about his bottomless bag necklace; he didn't want to be caught with anything that he shouldn't have, nor did he want anyone to be suspect of him if they were to spot his bag necklace.

Picking up the trunk, Harry placed it by the bedroom door, afterwhich he headed over to the bathroom and took a quick shower.

Once he was finished with that he got dressed and headed to bed, crawling over Regulus who was sitting up and reading the leather bound book Harry had bought for him on the second of August.

Letting out a hum of content, Harry leaned into Regulus' side, his eyes roaming the page the man was currently reading, murmuring," like it?"

Letting out a grunt the man moved his arm so that he could wrap it around Harry, letting a smile settle on his lips as he responded," hm, yes, it's quite an interesting read, thank you for getting it for me," thanking the boy he leaned down and lay a kiss on his head. Harry let out a happy hum as he cuddled closer to the welcome embrace of his friend, the feeling of contentment filling his entire being as he felt his eyelids droop, knowing that sleep was pulling on him to the land of dreams, and, for the first time in a long time, Harry didn't fight the hold, knowing that, while the journey from tomorrow on would be difficult, that it wouldn't be all bad.

And with that final thought, Harry let out a yawn, and was lost to the land of the living, his body preparing for the new experiences heading his way.

 **Steamy: And there you go. This chapter is over and done with and I don't have anything to say, just that if you have any questions then send me a review or PM.**


	4. What will you choose?

**Steamy: Okay, so…**

 **I've been gone for awhile and the reason for that is because I work five days of the week and, until recently, I had been going to school everyday, while also working everyday so that made me tired and stressed, especially when finals came around to bite me in the butt, I didn't want to fail my classes so I had to put writing on hold to do that.**

 **There have been other things going on in my life that have kept me from writing, like me getting sick the literal last day of school while I was at work and it was so horrible that I was just laying in bed sleeping all day, nothing else, just sleeping and occasionally eating soup or coughing my lungs out.**

 **But, moving on, I've been working off and on on this chapter for awhile now, I've been trying to get through it and finish it up as soon as I could.**

 **Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Obviously moving from last chapter, this is the one where Harry gets on the train to Hogwarts, so, who knows where he'll end up?**

 **I know, but I don't count, I'm the author…**

 **But anyway, time to move on to-**

 **Review responses:**

 **Steamy: Okay, so…**

 **I've been gone for awhile and the reason for that is because I work five days of the week and, until recently, I had been going to school everyday, while also working everyday so that made me tired and stressed, especially when finals came around to bite me in the butt, I didn't want to fail my classes so I had to put writing on hold to do that.**

 **There have been other things going on in my life that have kept me from writing, like me getting sick the literal last day of school while I was at work and it was so horrible that I was just laying in bed sleeping all day, nothing else, just sleeping and occasionally eating soup or coughing my lungs out.**

 **But, moving on, I've been working off and on on this chapter for awhile now, I've been trying to get through it and finish it up as soon as I could.**

 **Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Obviously moving from last chapter, this is the one where Harry gets on the train to Hogwarts, so, who knows where he'll end up?**

 **I know, but I don't count, I'm the author…**

 **But anyway, time to move on to-**

 **Review responses:**

 **To everyone who asked me to update: Sorry for the wait! And thank you for the being patient with me!**

 **Guest: Well I'm glad that you're giving this a chance despite not being a fan of large age gap pairings! Don't worry, the sexual content won't be taking place until at the** ** _least_** **Harry's 15, til then there will be primarily cuddling and getting to know each other**

 **JBubbles: I'm glad that you liked the story, and that it moved you so much! I think Ezekiel's a cutie too, and was really going for that so I'm glad it came across correctly!**

 **Sheba Winchester Potter: sort of yeah that's how it's going to happen, just not that quickly. Harry has to discover he is the Boy-Who-Lived first after all!**

 **mizzrazz72: Well, for the time being, Harry is just trying to move on with his life and just ignore the Dursley's, of course that won't stick for too long, but it's going to be the state of things for now.**

 **TheCatDidIt XBLX: It seems that most people didn't understand what I was trying to say, and I have a tendency to make no sense when writing, so I'm glad that everyone was willing to tell me it made no sense so that I could fix it. Thank you for the well wishes, for the time being, I am doing much better and am not sick-for now-and I will be looking forwards to writing even more!**

 **Also, thanks everyone for all the favorites and follows!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter cast or books/movies and anything that might belong to other people**

 **What will you choose?**

 **[September 1st 1991]**

Harry awoke to the gentle sensation of someone running their fingers through his unruly hair.

Shifting in place, Harry turned into the action, a happy hum rumbling from his chest, it turning into a purr of pleasure as the one combing his hair chuckled in reply to his humming. Turning up his face, Harry grinned sleepily at Regulus, who was laying on his side on a propped up elbow, a smile gently upturning his lips and warming his gaze.

"Good morning," the man murmured, again chuckling as Harry scooted closer to him, nuzzling his face into his shoulder.

"Morning…" Harry mumbled, smile softly curling his lips as he glanced up at the man through his lashes again, shuffling his body around closer to the larger and warmer body in front of him. Regulus let out a quiet sigh as he continued to run his fingers through Harry's hair as he leaned down to press a chaste kiss to the top of his head, murmuring,

"It's the 1st, you need to get up and get ready to go to Kings Cross station."

Harry let out a groan, burrowing his face into Regulus' shoulder even more, obviously reluctant to get up from the warm bed and body. Regulus moved the hand cradling his jaw and started to poke Harry in the side, letting his other hand fall from his hair," c'mon, get up lazybones," he murmured quietly, laughing softly as Harry groaned again in resistance.

Finally, Harry relented and untangled himself from Regulus, pulling back and sitting on his bum he rubbed at his sleep filled eyes, a pout downturning his lips adorably, but unfortunately for him it had no effect on the man before him, who merely chuckled some more while pushing him toward the bathroom.

"Go on, get ready. You have a big day ahead."

Harry, at last relenting, made his way to the bathroom, taking a relaxing and refreshing shower that cleansed his body and refreshed his mind, waking him up for the day to come.

A sigh of content left his lips as he washed himself clean, mentally going over everything that he needed to do that day. Luckily for him there wasn't much. So, when he was done with his shower, he stepped out and got dressed in his school clothes, making sure to put his hoodie on over them-no need to stick out like a sore thumb when out in Muggle London-and went about finishing up the rest of his packing, which basically consisted of him checking his Magical suitcase to make certain it contained his spare school uniforms and supplies and then going through his various bottomless bags to be certain that they too held what they were assigned.

Letting out a hum of contentment when finding everything to be in its place, Harry cleaned up the room with some help from Regulus, who had taken the time to take his own shower while Harry was doing his last minute check-ups, the man dressed as he usually was.

It didn't take long for the two Wizard's to be finished and all too soon it was time for Harry to head down into the pub for the last time for some months to come, and for Regulus to become a cat once again for an extended period of time.

Glancing in the others direction, they locked eyes for a moment, both seeing the anticipation and apprehension of the coming months. They didn't know what was in store for them in the future, but, with smiles lighting up their faces, they would be going through them together.

With a final nod Regulus transformed into Blackie as Harry beckoned Hedwig to him, the snowy owl landing on his outstretched arm, the other holding his suitcase. Taking a final deep breath Harry and his animal companions left the small rooms that had become a surprisingly safe and comforting place that had allowed for deeply resonating peace to permeate the three beings.

Alas, it was time for Harry to venture back out into the world where those who did not know him would decide who he was and what he was worth. But, at least he would never have to go back to the Dursley's again, Harry conceded, so it was with a smile and an excited bounce in his step Harry with his two companions left the peace giving rooms.

Skipping down the stairs Harry made his way over to the bar counter, taking a seat on one of the stools, Hedwig flying over to the designated area for owls and Blackie jumping up onto the counter, sitting at Harry's elbow.

"Good morning Harry," a soft voice sounded close by, causing for Harry to look up, smiling as he took in the slim, grey haired and eyed man standing before him.

"Hello Gregory! How are you this fine morning?" the boy asked, mood still firmly jovial, something that Harry was determined to maintain-at least until he got to the train station.

Inclining his head to him, Gregory allowed for a smile to upturn his gentle features," I am doing quite well this morning, Harry. It is my understanding that you will be heading to Kings Cross after breakfast for the start of the school year; is this true?"

"Yeah, that's true. So if you would could I have one final taste of your fantastic cooking before I leave?" grinning ear to ear, Harry put on his most winning smile, hoping that the Creature before him would do as he asked.

Luckily for him, or perhaps despite him (it's not like the male was paid to serve customers or anything) Gregory agreed and went about fixing up his breakfast once Harry decided what he wanted, waiting in anticipation as the delicious scents of the sizzling foods reached him and his feline friend.

Soon enough it was finished and so Harry and Blackie started digging in, enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the vacant pub.

That quiet, however was broken.

Just as Harry had finished clearing his plate, a soft voice called to him. Turning to look around, Harry spotted the shadowed figure of what appeared to be a man standing in the corner of the pub, glowing red eyes glinting from under a hood.

Tilting his head to the side, Harry took in the man. He had this feeling that he knew who it was, the feeling growing stronger the closer he got. Stopping just outside of the shadows that the man was taking refuge under, Harry once again tilted his head to the side as he tried to make out the features on his face; when suddenly he was hit with the realization,

"Oh, hey Ezekiel! I thought you said you didn't get up til noon, what're you doing up so early?" he asked, a playful grin upturning his lips.

The Vampire let out a chuckle as he beckoned Harry closer, not moving from his spot firmly within the shadows. Understanding the reluctance to leave the shadows, Harry moved closer to them until he too was shrouded within them, an unusual chill running up his spine as he did so.

"Are you okay?" Ezekiel spoke softly, his eyes having caught the shiver that ran over Harry's body. Letting out a huff of air, Harry wrapped his arms about himself, the chill still creeping over his body in an unsettling yet soothing way. He nodded his head shortly as he let out another huff, surprised when he saw the white puff of air condense in the air.

"Yeah, just a bit chilly…" Ezekiel nodded and moved closer, wrapping his arms about the boy in order to warm him up,

"Hm, sorry about that, I wouldn't be able to be here otherwise."

Harry's head snapped up at that, his mind finally catching up as he remembered something he had read about Vampires,

" _If they are out during the day, a Vampire's Magic will radiate out of their body in order to protect themselves from the sun and heat, causing for a space of cold and shadows to collect around them…_ that's what's happening, right?" Harry reasoned quietly, staring questioningly up into Ezekiel's glowing crimson eyes.

A smile tilted his lips as Ezekiel nodded in approval, a happy hum rumbling from his throat," my, my; been doing some research have you?" he questioned teasingly. Harry nodded with a smile,

"Yep, since meeting you I've wanted to know more about Vampires and other creatures, so I've been doing a lot of reading and researching into the subject. I wasn't entirely sure if it was polite or not to ask the questions I had so I turned to books instead. Though one of them hasn't been answered yet…"

Harry mumbled at the end, turning his head away as he did. Drawing the boy closer to himself as another shiver ran through his smaller body, Ezekiel gently prodded," and what is that question?"

Turning his head back to look at the Vampire a light blush started to creep up his face, embarrassment turning his features as he sucked in his bottom lip in nervousness.

"W-well," he stuttered, body shifting uncomfortably in place," I don't think it's appropriate..."

"I'll answer any question you have. I won't judge you as I know you are only asking out of genuine curiosity and not malice. So, what was the question?" he asked once again, voice becoming even softer as he bent closer to the boy so that his ear could be near Harry's mouth.

Swallowing his nerves, Harry dredged up his nerves as he asked,"... is it really actually seen as intimate when a Vampire sucks anothers blood? Does, does it actually feel good and pleasurable?" immediately after asking Harry hid his face in Ezekiel's chest, while the Vampire himself just froze in place, not expecting that to have been his question.

Gulping himself, Ezekiel answered to the best of his ability." Well, that would depend on the relationship and where the biting is taking place…" Harry peeked up at the Vampire as he continued on in a hesitant voice," … most of the time biting on the neck is seen as intimate regardless of the relationship, but biting happening anywhere else, such as the wrist, isn't seen as being intimate, though some Vampires believe that another allowing for a Vampire to bite them on the neck can also be seen as a sign of trust and a deep friendship, not just an intimate one. I'm one of those by the way," he finished with a reassuring smile curling his lips.

Harry let out a huff of air, not taking notice that the air was both colder yet warmer than it had been before, too focused on the warmth that the Vampire he's hugging was providing; the wonderful warmth….

His head snapped up at that thought, widened eyes looking at Ezekiel.

"You're too hot!" Harry exclaimed, the realization just now dawning on him," Vampires are cold-blooded! They can't produce heat very well on their own unless they are in their heat or they are sick from running low on blood! You need more blood!" Harry continued on, eyes glancing worriedly up at his friend who had gained a feverish flush on his face and ears.

The Vampire shook his head," I'll be fine…"

"No you won't, a Vampire needs a certain amount of blood a month in order to function, and if they can't get it they can get really sick. You need to get more blood in your veins, but who will give it to you…"

Pulling himself from the Vampire Harry looked up at him resolutely before he started to tug his cloak off, revealing his school clothes underneath. Before Ezekiel could ask what he was doing, Harry pulled off his sweater vest, unbuttoning his shirt shortly after.

"Just don't get any blood on my shirt, okay?" he demanded as he presented his bare neck and shoulder to the Vampire, tilting his head to the side so that he could get better access.

Ezekiel gulped loudly as his eyes glowed a deeper, hungrier red, his hands twitching at his sides as his gaze fixed itself upon Harry's neck. Gulping again he took a deep breath, one that didn't seem to help as the hunger in his eyes deepened.

"You-you're sure?" he asked weakly, stiff and unmoving, waiting for a reply.

"Of course I am, I wouldn't have offered otherwise." And with that, Ezekiel lunged forward.

One hand found its way to the back of Harry's neck while the other wrapped around his back just under his shoulder blades; the hand on his neck firmly held him in place as his muscles strained in an attempt to be gentle in his hold as his mouth moved over the vein pulsing just beneath the skin. Gently licking at the skin before biting, Harry took in a breath as Ezekiel bit him, the breath leaving him in a shuddering sigh, his smaller arms coming up to wrap around his shoulders.

Ezekiel held Harry in place as he drank his fill, being careful to not take too much from the boy, especially since he was going to be around adult Wizards who would be able to notice the symptoms of blood loss which would result badly for him and his "family".

As he drank his fill, he felt something start forming inside of him, a feeling he had never had before twisting around his Magic, almost as if it were... binding him...

Those thoughts were swept away as he took a few last shallow gulps. Ezekiel carefully extracted his teeth from the young flesh, blood sticking to his fangs and lips as he did so. He took a couple quick breaths before he lapped at the puncture marks now adorning Harry's neck, his Magic setting to heal them and make it so that they never existed.

Loosening his grip on Harry, Ezekiel pulled back as he moved his hands so that they could rest on the boys' shoulders." Harry," he whispered, his grip tightening as Harry's eyes fluttered opened, skin paler than was normal but not enough that it would be noticeable," are you okay?" he asked, worried that he might have taken too much of the boys blood-he was pretty small and slight as it was, he probably needed that small amount of blood more than Ezekiel himself did…

His worries were cut off though when a warm flush lighted upon Harry's face, reassuring the Vampire that no true harm had come to the lad.

"...Is… is it alway like that?" Harry asked, trembling in reaction to the intense emotions the experience had invoked within him. Taking a gulp of air, Harry continued," is it always that intense and… and…." blush becoming fiercer by the second, Harry felt his eyes watering from the heat rising from his face.

He wanted to look away, move away but he couldn't. He felt tied to the spot, like he couldn't move until Ezekiel gave his permission, though Harry couldn't understand why…

A thumb pressing into the bite mark on his neck was what brought the boy back from his mind. Refocusing his gaze on the face before him, Harry saw the worry in those crimson iris' and with that worry came the release of the constricting pressure surrounding his body. Letting out a shuddering breath Harry felt his body lose it's tenseness.

"Harry, calm down. There you go…" Ezekiel murmured comfortingly, his thumb still pressing lightly into the bite mark. Taking one final breath, Harry let it out slowly, his body relaxing as he gained back control of himself.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Harry then raised his eyes to look into Ezekiel's. A look of confusion overtook his features, leading to him asking," what was that?" his brows scrunched up together in his confusion as he tightened his jaw in a grimace.

Ezekiel's own eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. He shook his head with a sigh.

"I don't know… But, for now let's not focus on that. Are you okay?" he asked, his concern returning full force.

Harry let out a small laugh at the change in subject, but didn't object and instead answered the Vampire.

"Ah, I'm fine. Just a little… dazed I guess… that was weird, I've never felt anything like that before, not even when I was literally being held captive by Magic that one time…" the boy kept trailing off, looking to the side as thoughts of his unpleasant past started to creep up on him.

Ezekiel's grip tightened causing for Harry to take a good look at the Vampire's face once again, and the boy realized that he _just might_ have said more than he should have. Letting a weak smile upturn his lips, he attempted to reassure Ezekiel that it wasn't _that_ big a deal…

"You already know that I left my living situation because of how they treated me… did you think I left just because it happened to get worse, or does it make more sense that I left because I was actually able to?" He asked with a tilt of his head, looking up at him with a single brow raised in his question.

Ezekiel, in turn, just stared at Harry in alarm while he tried to ask the boy more questions about his home life and what exactly had been going on; but, Harry being Harry refused to reveal anything more about his past, stating that it was in the past and that he didn't want to think about it anymore.

Luckily for Harry, Ezekiel was forced to let him go after Gregory appeared at their side and whacked the Vampire over the head.

"Whatever it is you two are arguing about will just have to wait! Harry here needs to get going so that he isn't late for his train." The Nymph stated firmly. Looking at him with annoyance, Ezekiel turned his red eyes upon the other being, but Gregory was unaffected and merely looked right on back, unimpressed.

"Yes, yes, you're very scary, but that doesn't change the truth of my words."

Ezekiel let out a mumble of annoyance as he pulled his arms away from the boy. Harry was saddened that the comforting heat from the Vampire was going away, but also grateful that he wouldn't be questioned anymore as both he and Gregory moved into the light in the pub, Ezekiel remaining firmly within the shadows, a petulant scowl on his face.

The scowl grew deeper once Ezekiel saw Gregory looking Harry over in an over exaggerated way, checking his face, wiping his back from Ezekiel's "filth" while berating Harry in an over the top voice that the boy should know better than to hang around in dark corners because," you know nothing ever comes of it, just a lot of dirt, cobwebs and angst. You don't need to be dealing with that on your first day of school!" he exclaimed while continuing to dust the lad off.

Harry, meanwhile, was grinning the largest grin he's ever had while small giggles escaped him.

It didn't take long for Ezekiel to call out grumpily," why do you care so much about him going to Wizard school? Don't you hate Wizards?"

Gregory looked up from what he was doing to look at Ezekiel incredulously. Straightening his back, the Nymph replied.

"I don't _hate_ wizards. I just _dislike_ a great deal of them because the good ones that care about the rights and the lives of others, especially creatures, are corrupted by the bad ones who just want to pretend that only them and their pureblooded friends are important, even if they aren't purebloods themselves!"

Gregory then shook his head, cutting off whatever it was that Ezekiel was going to say to that, instead continuing to speak," but that isn't why I want Harry to hurry on to Hogwarts. The reason I want him to hurry on is because if a student misses the train and doesn't show up for the first day of school they send someone to find the student, which means that they'll find him here which will get us in trouble, not to say that he would also get in trouble for having run away from home! They'll think that someone here, probably _you_ oh mighty Vampire, tricked him with mind Magic to run away from home! And since you've bitten him, they'll have reason to pursue you and destroy the reputation of the White Wyvern! Not to mention that they would use this opportunity to take out your coven, you know they hate your Sire, so this would just be the final nail on the coffin… no pun intended."

Ezekiel let out a puff of laughter at that as he finally smiled a fanged grin, his grumpiness finally gone.

Shaking his head the Vampire looked at Harry with a pained smile. "Yeah," he murmured," while I love the little bugger to bits, I don't think this is a worthy enough reason to get me and my coven executed for something that was technically legal."

Harry looked confused for a moment," why would you get in trouble for biting me? I let you do it!" but it was right at that moment that Harry understood why they would still get into trouble.

"And they wouldn't care. They could just spin some sort of sob story about you being coerced into allowing me to bite you, and it would have to be coercion because they won't be able to find any Magic on you that would have forced you to let me drink your blood."

Harry's features dropped as he looked at Ezekiel, a look of understanding filling his eyes.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely, huh? Creatures don't have that much political power so anyone who has a bone to pick with you will be able to do whatever they want. Unless…"

Trailing off, Harry's lips started turning up into a smile, a smile that neither creature could quite interpret.

"Unless what Harry?" Gregory asked. But the boy only shook his head.

"Hm, nothing… yet. But anyway, I should really be going! I know King's Cross isn't too far from here but I want to be able to catch a cab cause I don't feel like walking the whole way." Harry moved over to the bar counter and picked up his suitcase. Blackie bounded down from the counter and rubbed up against the boy, making him smile.

With a sigh, Harry turned back around, looking at Gregory and Ezekiel, and smiled at the two of them.

"Thanks for thinking about my safety… I'd really hate to have to go back to that house ever again; so I'll make sure to stay on the down low. But I really should be going so…" trailing off Harry jumped forward and gave Gregory a big hug before moving over to Ezekiel, hugging him firmly around the waist. The Vampire wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders in order to return the hug.

Lifting his head, Harry smiled as he pulled away, grabbed his suitcase again and made his way to the door.

Turning his head, Harry nodded to the two while beckoning Hedwig to him. And with that, he left.

The boy maneuvered his way through Knockturn then Diagon Alley, carefully making his way to the Leaky Cauldron. Before he entered he lifted his arm, Hedwig moving to it from his shoulder. He instructed her to make her way to Hogwarts ahead of them so that he wouldn't draw any unwanted attention. Giving his ear an affectionate nibble, Hedwig let out a soft hoot before spreading her wings and flying high into the sky; soon disappearing from Harry's line of sight.

After that Harry walked into the Leaky Cauldron, pulling his hood up and over his head in the process so that Tom wouldn't be able to recognize him as he left the establishment.

Harry let out a sigh as he walked out of the Leaky Cauldron with his suitcase in hand. The emerald eyed boy made his way to the side of the sidewalk in order to hail a cab. It didn't take long for one to stop, allowing for Harry to climb in and tell the man driving to take him to King's Cross station and, with a nod, the man started the car back up and made the trip to the station. It wasn't long before they got there and once they did Harry climbed back out of the cab, handed the man a couple bills then made his way inside of the building.

Trying his best to not stand out while also attempting to find the correct platform, Harry started walking around at a brisk pace with his head tilted downwards so that the hood of his hoodie shadowed part of his face, making it harder to recognize him.

His search went on for quite some time, which agitated Harry to no end as he knew that the platform was somewhere in King's Cross, but that it was most likely being hidden with Magic and so it was being a pain in the butt for him to be able to find. Shaking his head Harry looked around himself once more, trying to see if there were any suspicious characters walking about the place, hoping that a Wizard might be oblivious enough to make it obvious for someone who was looking that they were there, making their own way to Platform 9 ¾.

Unfortunately for Harry, that didn't appear to be the case and the boy let out an annoyed huff, his feline companion rubbing against his leg in comfort, while also seeming to be holding back mirth, remembering that Harry had forbidden Regulus/Blackie to help him in any way in finding the proper station.

The boy was starting to regret that decision but his pride wouldn't let him ask for help now, so he looked about himself once more, hoping that he would get some sign of where to go, it was nearly time for the train to start boarding and he didn't want to be stuck in a car with someone annoying.

It was at about this time that Harry remembered...' _Oh yeah, I have Magic…'_ And with that thought Harry began to focus his Magic, attempting to do what he had done when he first found the Leaky Cauldron. Closing his eyes, Harry started to push out his Magic, letting it flow and twine with the Magic in the air and just as it began to attach to something-

He was suddenly lifted into the air by two pairs of arms.

"Wh-Hey?! Who the bloody hell is-ah!" being cut off as he was thrown over a shoulder, he was vaguely aware of his suitcase being removed from his hold while this happened. Harry shook his head and looked to Blackie for assistance, only to see the feline bounding after him with what appeared to be mirth dancing in his eyes, his tail wagging back and forth in delight.

Harry was confused for all of two seconds before he realized why his feline companion wasn't doing anything to help.

"My, my, such language from such a small pure child. You should know it's not proper to swear, ickle Harrikins!"

Harry pushed himself up using his captors back and was able to see the brilliant flaming red hair of none other than a Weasley. A sigh of resignation left Harry's lips as he let himself fall back down, letting his body swing back and forth.

A face suddenly appeared before him, causing for Harry to pull his head back, before a scowl lighted upon his features once he recognized the face of one of the Weasley twins. That didn't stop him, however, from looking closely to try to figure out which twin this one was.

And just as it was on the tip of his tongue-

"What? Didn't you miss us? I don't think he missed us George!" Harry let out another sigh of annoyance as the twin in front of him, obviously Fred, called out to his sibling, a shit eating grin upturning his lips.

"What? After all the effort we put into finding him and helping him make it to the right platform?! My, my, how so very ungrateful of you Harry, I could cry!" George responded while twirling around to look at his brother.

"Wah-!" Harry was cut off as his body was swung around. A growl of anger left him as he clutched at the back of George's shirt, trying to keep himself in place, all the while Blackie trotted after them, mirth continuing to dance in his eyes.

He shook his head forcefully, his grip tightening on the back of George's shirt. The elder boy paused in his gait, a hum of question coming from him.

"What is it Harry?" he asked his tone softer but still teasing. Harry shook his head again as he looked into Fred's face, a pout downturning his features in the most adorable way.

"I can't bloody well figure out which one of you is which if you just tell me! I want to be able to figure that out on my own, thank you very much!" he informed them sharply, his pout deepening.

A look of shock overcame Fred's face, as if he had never heard someone say something like that before…

Losing his pout, Harry tilted his head to the side, confusion scrunching up his face." What?" he asked, taken aback by the elder's expression," is that really so weird, someone wanting to be able to tell the difference between you two?"

All remained quiet and the twins both seemed at a loss for words. Harry would have felt accomplished if he didn't feel sorry for them. He knew what it was like to be seen as not your own person, though obviously it wasn't the same as what these two had gone through as they seemed to be seen as a singular person.

Just as Harry was about to offer some words of kindness, or encouragement or, _something_ , George started walking again and at a brisker pace, Fred right behind him.

Harry looked at Fred in concern, but the elder boy just smiled down at him," thanks for that," he said sincerely," most people just take one look at us and see us as one person, even our best friend in the beginning. So, thank you for even trying to see the difference between us!" Smile turning into a grin, Fred reached out a hand and ruffled Harry's already wild hair, somehow not getting his hand tangled up in the mess he created.

Attempting to frown but finding himself unable to, Harry instead focused on pushing himself higher onto George's back, the other boy helping him move until he was being safely held within his arms, his knees squeezing at the elder boys' sides, his ankles locked just below his own bum. Resting his chin on George's shoulder, Harry allowed for a genuine smile to touch his face, warming his features and heating Fred's own as he gazed upon it.

The elder boy was certain he had never seen something so beautiful nor pure but somehow, Harry had managed to combine the two into something more that simply amplified his youthful features. Fred had noticed a strange hardness that seemed to line Harry's face and posture, something his brother had also noticed but no one else seemed to have seen such.

With that thought in mind, Fred reached a hand up and used it to brush back the bangs obscuring Harry's eyes, being careful to not pull on Harry's glasses in the process, causing for said boy to open them and look at him in confusion. But Fred only grinned back at him, somehow knowing that if he were to articulate his thoughts that the little eleven year old before him wouldn't be all that accepting of such words, so he kept all of them to himself as they made their way to their family.

Just as they spotted their family standing where they had left them, in front of the pillar leading to platform 9 ¾ , Fred felt a small hand reach out and touch his shoulder while he saw the other tighten it's hold on George's shirt and through his touch, they both felt the powerful flow of Magic as it coursed first through Harry, then their own bodies and, for the briefest of moments, Fred was certain that he saw Harry's large green eyes glow brightly; but soon enough the light faded, as did Harry's Magic and hand holding onto Fred as the three stopped in front the red headed family.

Pulling his mind from what had just transpired, Fred turned his eyes to look at his mother and let his trademark mischievous grin overtake his features. "Mother!" he called with a flourish of his arms, almost hitting his twin with Harry's luggage in the process.

George didn't pay it any mind as his own grin upturned his lips. "Mother dearest, we have returned with our prize!"

The marton of the Weasley family turned at being called too, her eyes widening in surprise upon spotting her two sons, one of which was holding a child that couldn't be older than 9 while the other was holding a suitcase that wasn't his nor any of the Weasley's. Raising her brow in suspicion while at the same time her motherly irritation and intuition came to the fore, Molly Weasley walked forwards, her hands finding purchase on her hips.

"And what, might I ask, have you two been up to?" she asked, her suspicion leaking into her voice almost to the point of becoming a physical force. " Who is that you have, hmm?" she questioned with an expectant raise of her eyebrows.

But the twins were the only ones of the Weasley's that didn't seem to be affected by her facial gestures or anything else of that nature, and that remained true as the two merely grinned all the wider at her questions, not making any sort of move to answer her. Molly's frustration was just about to make itself known when the reason behind their silence became apparent.

The small form being held in one of the twins' arms started pushing itself up and away from her son, who in turn loosened his grip upon them, his hands carefully moving to the waist of this child as he helped them set their feet on the ground.

Molly then watched as the child looked up at the twins, nodding to them before they turned around, revealing his face to be none other than-" Harry dear!" Molly exclaimed, surprise entering her veins at seeing the child, only just now realizing how small he was compared to her own Ron, who should be around the same age as him.

Nodding his head, Harry let a polite smile grace his features as he looked at the matron of the Weasley family, silently coming to the conclusion that George and Fred had most likely left without explaining why they were doing so.

"Oh Harry, did you and the twins arrange to meet at the station? Is that why the two of you left without so much as a word?" Harry was brought out of his thoughts by the woman, causing him to shake his head in the negative.

"No, I was just trying to find Platform 9 ¾ myself but I was a bit lost… that is until these two showed up and brought me here." Another smile lighted upon Harry's features. "I guess they knew I wouldn't know how to get to the platform myself or something." Giving a shrug, Harry's smile remained as he continued," regardless of the reason, I'm thankful that they were able to find me, so, thank you you two, I was having a pretty hard time finding it."

Giving grins of their own, George moved forwards and ruffled Harry's hair affectionately, his grin growing ever wider as he responded," Eh, no need for thanks ickle Harrikins! It was our pleasure!"

"Yes, yes! Our pleasure!" Fred jumped in, shit-eating grin on his face. Harry couldn't help but grin right on back, these two seemed to have a knack for making him smile and Harry was glad that he knew the two, and he hoped that he would grow ever closer to the twins over the time they spent at Hogwarts in the years to come.

The low whistle of a nearby train brought the conversation to a halt as everyone realized that they needed to get to Platform 9 ¾ immediately.

Straightening her back Molly started shooing her children, plus Harry, into a group as they all bustled over to a pillar.

"Alright Weasley's, and Harry," Molly started up, smiling at the green-eyed boy as she said his name," it's time to get on the platform!" Gesturing to Percy she continued," go on then Percy, show Harry here how it's done."

With a firm nod of his head, the redhead let a encouraging smile fall on his face as he looked at Harry before he turned and rushed into the pillar, disappearing from view the moment he made contact.

Looking on in both interest and awe, Harry watched as the twins then made their own way through the pillar, after making a joke about how their own mother couldn't tell the difference between the two.

Then, it was Harry's turn.

"Alright Harry dear. Just run straight at that pillar and you will pass through onto the platform, okay?" Molly directed gently, a motherly smile warming her features.

Slowly nodding his head, Harry then turned towards the pillar, took a deep breath, then ran straight for it, keeping his eyes open and firmly on where he was going, and, just as he passed through he felt something. Something, raw, and powerful washed over him, coiling around him and holding him. At first he thought it was restraining him, but then he realized that whatever it was, it was almost as it it were hugging him, one that someone would give after seeing someone they loved after years of separation.

But just as he was getting used to the feeling, he was standing within a busy crowd.

Blinking his eyes, Harry let out a quick breath to recenter himself before looking around him, this time his awe being replaced by excitement.

There before him stood a immaculate locomotive shining pristenly for all to see. Crowds of people dressed in robes and old Victorian era clothing stood before it, the adults talking to each other and their children as they all said their goodbyes for the coming months of the school year.

A quiet meow brought him out of his staring. Looking down Harry smiled as he spotted Blackie at his side, purring loudly for him to hear and feel as he rubbed against his leg. Reaching down, Harry picked up his feline companion with his free arm and rubbed his face against the top of his head. Letting out a giggle at the continued purring, Harry looked back up at the sight before him, his excitement reigniting, burning a fire deep within him.

He was going to be the best, Harry decided silently. He was going to work hard and be the best student of his year. Nothing would stand in his way, not even the desire to cheat to make it easier would, as false knowledge it just that, false, and Harry would not stand for lacking in knowledge in the Magical world, a world he was going to be spending the next seven plus years living in and becoming a part of.

With a resolute nod to himself, Harry stepped forwards and made his way to the train, carefully weaving through and around the wizards and witches occupying the platform. It didn't take long for him to get to the train car, being careful to keep his presence on the down low as he didn't want to catch anyone's attention for the time being. Being able to quietly observe others was a great way at figuring out what made them tick, and not being noticable yourself made it all the easier to have the upper hand in any conversation with someone, especially children who had little idea of how to world worked and how truly dark and dangerous it could be.

Hoisting himself up, Harry climbed into the train car and moved into the little hallways that split the compartments from each other, passing by multiple compartments with both young and old children who were all making conversation with their companions. As he didn't know anyone, save the Weasley's, Harry decided it was within his best interest to find a compartment either with a Weasley or that was empty to occupy on the way to Hogwarts.

He made his way down several more hallways before he came upon an empty compartment in a hallway that had scarce amount of people occupying it. With a smile Harry walked right on in and, after placing Blackie down on the opposite seat, stood on the other seat so that he could put his suitcase in the holdings above.

Once he was finished with that Harry fell rather ungracefully onto his bum on the seat, letting out a sigh as the tension he gained at being around so many people finally left his body. Leaning back against the seat, Harry took in a breath then let it out of his nose as he relaxed his body, his eyes closed and a smile on his lips. That smile grew when he felt the warm weight of Blackie leap onto his lap, curling into a ball and lying there.

Harry continued to smile as he leaned down and placed a firm kiss on top of his head before he leaned back on the seat again.

He remained like that for some time. The muffled sounds of the people within and without the train a constant thrum of noise and activity, keeping Harry's senses alert but not so much that he wasn't able to relax.

Some time passed as the other children and teens said goodbye to their families and boarded the train, the sound of many shoes clipping against the floor alerting Harry to the fact that they would be leaving soon. But Harry didn't do anything, just readjusted his position to be more comfortable and settled in for the ride to come.

That, however, was broken into when Harry heard a soft knock at the compartments entrance.

Opening his eyes, Harry slowly looked over towards the entrance and standing there was a boy. He had one arm wrapped around a toad which he was holding to his chest and the other holding on tightly to his suitcase. He had short hair and chubby cheeks, and he looked anxious, hopping from one foot to the other while chewing on his bottom lip.

Harry took in his appearance before he smiled politely at the boy. "Hello," he murmured softly," how may I help you?" he had a fairly good guess as to what the boy wanted from him, but felt the need to push him to ask himself, as if the other boy needed to do that for himself.

So he waited patiently as the other boy continued his nervous hopping and biting. Thankfully, it didn't take too long for the boy to finally blurt out," can I sit here?"

As soon as the words left his mouth he gulped audibly while his cheeks flamed a jarring red. He almost looked like he would pass out from embarrassment.

Harry, taking pity on the boy, allowed for his smile to turn from polite to genuine as he nodded his head.

"Sure," he agreed with a flash of teeth," Me and Blackie are the only ones here at the moment, so I don't see why not." he let another tooth filled grin take his features as he gestured to the seat opposite him.

The other boy nodded with a nervous smile and made his way to the other seat. Harry got up so that he could help him put his suitcase away in the holdings. When that was finished with Harry returned to his seat while the other boy got comfortable on his own seat, raising his hazel eyes to meet Harry's green ones as he smiled again.

"M-my names Neville, by the way. Neville Longbottom…" Harry smiled, nodding his head as he put a hand to his chest,

"And I'm Harry, it's nice to meet you Neville!" Harry smiled wider as he made sure his entire countenance screamed ' _Relax'_ as he leaned back into his seat.

Neville smiled back as he stiffly leaned back into his own seat, seeming to try and relax.

Harry let out a puff of laughter as he closed his eyes, relaxing into the seat with a grin. He remained still and quiet while he heard Neville shifting about, and Harry understood that the other boy was still nervous, but he hoped that he would eventually settle because Harry wasn't sure if he could handle all that fidgeting in the hours it would take them to get to Hogwarts.

This went on for several minutes before Harry decided that enough was enough. He was just starting to sit up straight when a new presence entered the compartment.

"Hey Harry!" a young voice called out causing for the named boy to take a look at who had arrived. And it was with a grin that Harry called back,

"Hey there Ron! What do I owe the pleasure?" he said with a snicker. Ron merely grinned back before gesturing towards the compartment.

"Actually, could I sit with you guys? All the other ones are full and, well, I don't really know anyone besides you, Harry, so I was hoping…" Ron rambled on as a blush started overtaking his freckled face, blotting out said freckles.

But Harry understood Ron's hesitance so made it easy on the boy, no matter how much he enjoyed watching him squirm," of course Ron! Sit anywhere you'd like!" and with that, and a bit of maneuvering, Ron took residence opposite Harry, next to Neville.

It was weird.

Ron did seem to like Harry so the green-eyed boy didn't understand why he wasn't sitting next to him. It seemed to almost be some sort of unconscious effort as anytime Ron had made a move to get closer, he stopped, then turned right back around to the other side.

It was both confusing and frustrating, as Harry got the distinct feeling that similar behavior was going to inflict anyone he came into contact with, and that it was going to get worse as time went on.

But, with a shake of his head, Harry banished the thought and instead focused on the discussion-well, one-sided conversation-that Ron was having with Neville. Harry nodded along so that Ron knew that he was listening, and this continued on even after the train started on it's trek to Hogwarts.

.

.

.

The three boys were just getting into a in depth discussion on Quidditch when someone knocked on their compartment door.

Looking up they spotted an old woman standing before a trolly full of foods and sweets, a kindly smile upturning her wrinkled face.

"Hello dears," she greeted as she smiled warmly," anything off the trolley?" she asked as she made a gesture towards the food items.

Harry glanced back at Neville and Ron, the former of which smiled politely and murmured a quiet ' _yes please'_ while the latter shook his head with a grimace, holding up a wrapped up sandwich in his hand," no thank you, I don't really have any money…"

But, before he could finish that thought, Harry cut in with his most charming smile, holding up his hand to show three fingers," we'll take three of everything please!"

Ron and Neville both snapped their heads to look at Harry in wonder as the boy reached into his pocket at the elderly woman's nod of agreement, pulling out a good pile of galleons that he was going to hand to the woman, after gently setting Blackie off of his lap of course.

But before he could make the transaction Neville jumped to his feet and rushed over to the trolley.

"N-no!" he stammered," I can pay for myself Harry! You don't need to-"

"It's not about _need_ Neville, I _want_ to pay for you!" Harry cut off the other boy with a smile, reaching out he paid the trolley lady, who happily started levitating three of everything off of the cart and into nice little piles next to each boys' spot. After counting out the amount she needed, she handed Harry back his change with a warm smile before heading off to serve the rest of the passengers.

During this Neville had stood still in shock at Harry's words, eyes wide as all he could do was stare with an open mouth, and he remained there until Harry lightly shook his shoulder after the trolley lady had left.

"Oi, Nev? You okay there?" Harry asked in equal parts concern and amusement. The boy shook his head sharply as a blush flashed over his skin so fast that Harry was genuinely surprised that the boy didn't pass out from the headrush.

"N-no! I-I mean yes! I'm sorry, I was just… surprised is all…" he shook his head again, his blush thankfully receding as he carefully backed away to his seat, making sure that he didn't sit on the treats Harry had so kindly bought for him.

Ron, meanwhile, was looking at the pile at his side in longing as something warred with him on the inside. He wanted to accept it, especially since it was sweets and he _loved sweets_ , but he also hated charity on principal because it always made him feel like he was being looked down upon (though it was something he had rarely felt as Harry was one of the only people to actively offer anything to him specifically) but he also had a feeling that, just like last time, Harry wasn't pitying him.

He looked up at the brunette and asked with a squint," and are you just being nice or are you expecting something in return?"

Harry laughed at the question, sitting back down and settling Blackie back onto his lap, he answered the other boy," oh, perhaps, or perhaps not. If it really means that much to you, you can repay me I guess. Don't be worried on the money bit; I have more where that came from! Not everything can only be repaid with money, after all."

Ron slowly nodded his head at that, recalling when Harry had him repay him with his knowledge in exchange for his very own wand. But he tucked that thought away as he focused in on something that Harry said.

"' _more where that came from'_ what's that supposed to mean? Do you come from a well off family or something?" he asked with a suspicious squint at the other boy. But his eyes widened when Harry shook his head,

"Naw, nothing like that! All this money I'm using, including the money I used to buy my school supplies is all mine! Made it all myself, by myself." he nodded firmly at his own remark.

"Really?" Neville interjected with a surprised look on his face," you've made your own money?" he asked in curiosity.

Nodding his head Harry looked up in thought as he answered," yeah, I did! Y'know, little things, like tending to someone's garden here, mowed someone else's lawn there, or bigger things like helping someone pack up their garage or paint their fence." Harry shrugged," a lot of chores over a long period time with a small percentage of the money being spent and most of it being saved means more money for me to spend later!"

Ron and Neville looked on in awe with the redhead asking," you were able to make money by doing chores for other people? But, didn't you have chores at home?" he asked in bewilderment, as if the idea of both having chores at home and doing chores for someone else for money couldn't happen at the same time.

But his mind was blown again when Harry just nodded his head," yeah, of course I had chores at the house," Harry carefully kept exactly what those chores were to himself," but that doesn't mean I can't do chores for other people! Especially since I was getting paid for the second bit. A little extra work for some pay isn't all that bad or hard so, yeah." With another shrug Harry smiled at his companions, amusement coloring his features at the continued shock and bewilderment on their faces.

"But anyway, Ron what were you saying about the Chudley Cannons?" Harry decided to distract them from what he said by continuing their conversation from before the trolley lady came by, and it worked as Ron snapped out of his state of awe and confusion to continue gushing over the Chudley Cannons, trying to convince both Harry and Neville of their unrivaled greatness.

.

.

.

A couple hours passed them by, during which Harry had had to hold tight to Blackie once Ron had brought out his own pet, a scraggly brown rat by the name of Scabbers, as the feline started to growl at the thing; though Harry was certain Blackie was just doing it for show. Their conversation moved from Quidditch to the Magical world, to the sweets they were eating _("I think I might be in love with Cauldron cakes!" "Me too!")_ and then to school. Harry, after being questioned by Ron on how hard he thought their homework was going to be, told Ron that it shouldn't be too hard, especially since he had spent his summer reading all of the books required for their year and then some in order to prepare for the year to come.

Ron had been both awed and a bit jealous at the way Harry had made it sound so easy to just do nothing but study, but Harry was able to nip the jealousy in the bud by giving Ron suggestions on ways to be able to focus on homework without it feeling like a chore, which helped Ron in doing the same.

Harry had also gotten the card for Dumbledore with his chocolate frog, something that caused for him to stiffen in realization. That man was the same one who had placed the monitoring stone in the Dursley's yard, which told Harry that he was not to be trusted, no matter how old and kindly the man seemed.

Harry had also had to use a spell on Neville's toad, Trevor, because the little blighter had tried to run away in the middle of their conversation; Harry used a minor stunning charm to keep the toad from escaping, luckily not harming the little thing as Neville rushed over to pick him up, turning confused eyes to the green-eyed boy.

Harry had merely shrugged and muttered something about being in places that allowed for him to practice some of the spells they would be learning before turning the conversation to another topic to keep from them asking any questions of where those places were, all the while allowing for Neville to use Hedwig's cage for Trevor until they got to Hogwarts.

The three boys had just entered a quiet spell where they were merely enjoying each others presence when there was a knock at the compartments door.

But before any of them could even answer the knock it was shoved open with a loud bang as two large and burly boys stepped inside with arms crossed. Another third, smaller, boy stepped on in between them with an air of nobility and, Harry noted with annoyance, superiority.

He glanced over them all with a sneer on his face, especially as it passed over Ron, but he seemed to rein in whatever comments he wanted to in order to snobbishly turn up his nose at them all, his sneer turning into a smirk, or at the least an attempt at one, as he haughtily spoke," hm, you three, mind if I ask a couple questions."

He continued on speaking without waiting for an answer, turning to look at Harry," I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, these two are Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, my friends and allies." Draco sneered at Ron as he looked him over," and I know who you are, red hair, hand-me-down clothes, you must be a Weasley and you," turning to address Neville he quirked a brow at the nervous boy," are Neville Longbottom-why you're dirtying yourself with that Blood Traitor I'll never know but," here, he turned to Harry, a curious look washing most of his sneer away," but you, I've never seen you before. Who are you?" he finally closed his mouth in order for Harry to answer.

Said boy looked at the blond with one of the most suspicious looks he had ever given anyone. He didn't trust this boy, he seemed full of it, as if his head had been filled with hot air, and Harry hated people like that. But, he surmised that it would be rude of him not to answer, so he replied with a clipped," Harry," before falling silent, eyes ever watchful of this snobbish boy.

Draco's eyes sparkled in interest as he looked Harry up and down, his eyes trailing over his forehead for a reason Harry didn't know. The blond then opened his mouth," would your last name, perhaps be Potter?" he questioned with an excited smile.

Harry was so taken aback at the question that he didn't even notice the shocked gasps of his companions nor that he had swiftly stood to his feet. He could feel his metaphorical hackles rise at the question, his eyes narrowing in full distrust and suspicion as he asked through clenched teeth," how do you know my name?"

He definitely heard the gasps of his companions this time, but he didn't look at them, his attention solely on Draco Malfoy, something of which seemed to make the boy happy, annoying Harry even more.

"I said," he nearly growled as he stepped forwards, curling his fists into Draco's robes and bringing his face down to his own, the look of unrestrained glee on Draco's face vanishing to be replaced by surprise and fear. "How. Do. You. Know. My. Name?" he enunciated each word carefully, his eyes taking in and missing nothing.

Draco gulped loudly as he stared into Harry's eyes and-wait, were they glowing?

He was shoved out of his thoughts by the loud _bang!_ of the door slamming shut as Harry tightened his hold on Draco's robes, pushing him into the door harshly, his glare darkening the longer Draco didn't respond.

Quickly trying to find the words, Draco started to respond," I, uh, that is to say, you're _the_ Harry Potter! The Boy-Who-Lived! Everyone knows who you are! You, uh, you defeated the Dark Lord and, um, you're the reason that the war ended, and, heh, everyone says you're a hero, and you are! You are, but, eh, I wanted to meet you before we got to school because and um, you know, become allies? But, eh, you don't have too if you don't want too-"

"What the bloody hell are you blathering about?"

Harry abruptly cut Draco off, his eyes now filled with confusion rather than anger.

Darco, however, didn't relax even as Harry's hold did, his Magic swirling within him, telling him to remain still as this powerful being before them had his hold of them. He watched as those glowing green eyes narrowed, as that nose scrunched up in his confusion. Draco both felt and saw as Harry let one hand loosen it's hold, reaching down to grab something that turned out to be his wand.

Harry lightly tapped Draco on the chest, muttering something that Draco couldn't quite hear before finally letting go and taking a step back.

It was then Draco realized that Crabbe and Goyle hadn't done anything to help him and he rounded on them, about to ask why when he saw them, pushed up against the wall by an unseeable force, not allowing for them to move a muscle. Draco gulbed again, loudly in fear as he realized he had unintentionally pissed off someone very, _very_ powerful.

Carefully turning back around, Draco looked back at Harry, who had put his wand away by then and was instead looking straight at the Malfoy, his eyes now only glowing softly.

"Now," Harry started with a tilt of his head," what the bloody hell were you talking about when you said I am the Boy-Who-Lived?" he questioned, his body losing some of it's tense lines.

Draco felt as if his throat was closed, as if he was only able to answer the other boy and not ask any of his own questions; but, clearing his throat he attempted to think under the pressure of those eyes and finally was able to muster up the will and ability to instead ask in turn," well, what do you mean that you don't know you're the Boy-Who-Lived? Surely you must have been told at some point? Everyone here in the Magical world knows about you, and everyone was told that you were being kept in a safe place away from those who'd want to do you harm; learning about the Magical world in the process. So you tell me, Harry Potter, why are you reacting like this when you should've already been aware in the first place?"

Draco was able to regain his composure and so ended his question with a mild sneer. Harry merely blinked back at him, his confusion even more evident before he shook his head and said with a scowl,

"Well, whoever the fuck told the Magical world that I was in a place where I was learning about the Magical world while being safe is a bloody lier." Draco felt taken aback at the sentence, as did everyone else in the room, but Harry pushed forwards before any of them could interrupt. "I only just found out I was a Wizard when I got my letter to Hogwarts, as far as _I_ was concerned I was just a Muggleborn, even after I found out that my relatives, who are Muggles, lied to me about the existence of Magic, I still thought that I was a Muggleborn, or at the least the child of one-"

"But!" Ron suddenly cut in, having finally found his voice after Harry's frightening display of Magic," but, you said that you've read all the required books for the school year and then some! How could you not have found your name when you read the history books?" he asked as he stood next to Harry, his hands tightened into fists.

Harry turned to look up at the other boy, his head tilting to the side as he regarded Ron carefully. After remaining silent for a short time, and just before Ron felt the need to speak again, Harry finally answered.

"It's true. I've read all of the required books for the school year and then some in order to prepare myself for what was to come from living in the Magical world. I've read _Hogwarts: A History_ but not all the way through. I skipped the pages and chapters dedicated to the Wizarding War and the mysterious Boy-Who-Lived because it was part of modern history. There are other books that I own but haven't read that have to do with modern history." Harry looked from Neville, to Draco and his cronies, then back to Ron again while he explained himself. Shrugging his shoulders, Harry continued.

"I like history a lot, but I primarily like ancient history, so I was focusing on that rather than more modern events. I figured I would read about it later after I had gotten a good grasp on the history of the Magical world as a whole," Harry shrugged again," I wasn't expecting myself to be a part of history, so I didn't think it was important for me to start with modern history."

All those in the compartment remained quiet at that revelation. Draco and Ron in particular having to readjust their view of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who- _Didn't know_ -He-Was-Famous. All their lives they had been told, by their parents and by the adults in their lives, that _Harry Potter_ had grown up in luxury and safety, away from the rest of the Magical world for his own safety, but also that he was being prepared to be interjected into the Magical world when he started to go to Hogwarts.

But, apparently that had all been a lie. Whoever Harry Potter was, he wasn't the boy they had grown to picture in their minds, he was someone completely different.

They were all brought out of their revelations when Crabbe and Goyle suddenly fell away from the walls, each breathing heavily as if they had had a hard time breathing. Draco turned to them to start issuing orders but felt his whole body still, a strange pulse flashing over his chest before he stiffly turned back to Harry, whose eyes were carefully trained on him.

He just stared at Harry for a long minute, breathing becoming heavier by the second, before, with a shake of his head, Harry raised his Wand and muttered a quiet,' _Finite,'_ and Draco no longer felt compelled to look at or speak to him.

With a start Draco realized that Harry had placed some sort of compulsory charm on him, one that made him stay in the room and, most likely, tell the truth. A new found fear entered him, for he just as he had grown up being taught that the Boy-Who-Lived was living in the lap of luxury while learning about the world, he was also told that because it was the headmaster of Hogwarts that had been the one to do so meant that Harry Potter would be ignorant about many aspects of the Magical world. But, if Harry already knew compulsion spells and how to use them on someone without them knowing then that meant he was going to become a powerful and immovable ally or enemy.

Draco just hoped he was able to appeal to Harry's good side.

Harry then shook his head, bringing Draco out of his fear induced thoughts. Raising a hand he made a shooing motion with it, saying mildly," if that's all, then you can leave now." his glowing green eyes lighted upon him again, his hair started to move as if there was a wind as Harry's Magic swirled around the compartment," next time you want to introduce yourself to someone, how about being less of an arrogant prick, yeah? I do apologize for my overboard reaction, but it was partially due to the fact that you were being really annoying. So, keep that in mind for next time, huh?"

With that the compartment doors slammed back open, the Magic flowing in the air physically pushing at the three intruders until they were out and, with a single nod of his head, one that Draco hastily returned, Harry closed the doors.

On the other side the three purebloods just stood there, shock and confusion and fear filling them to the brim. But Draco shook his head, turned to his two accomplices and gestured for them to follow him.  
"Don't tell anyone about what happened, you hear me? Not even your parents can know, alright?" Draco directed them, to which they immediately nodded their agreement.

With a nod of his own head, Draco looked forwards as he made his way back to his compartment, thinking of how he was going to write the letter he had in mind to his father for the rest of the trip.

Back with Harry, Ron and Neville, the three had remained still after Harry had pushed the other boys out, each of them worrying about something different.

Harry then shook his head and returned to his seat. He pulled his legs up to his chest and leaned his forehead against his knees, not looking at his companions for a long time. Silence reigned for a while before, with a resolute nod, Ron and Neville got up and kneeled at Harry's feet.

Neville reached out and gently shook Harry, causing for the other boy to part his legs so that they could so his face. The dirty blond let a smile grace his features," you know, you being Harry Potter won't change the way I see you." He insisted sincerely.

Ron nodded his head next to him," yeah," he agreed," I won't see you any different either! It might take some time to get used to you being, y'know, _the_ Harry Potter, but since I knew you pretty well before knowing, well, I think it'll be fine, right?" Ron smiled reassuringly, causing for Harry to let out a giggle, his once tired eyes now gaining back their friendliness and warmth.

"Hm, thank you, Ron, Neville." He smiled back, his arms shifting to rest in between his legs as he gained a thoughtful expression. "I didn't mean to freak out like that, but you can understand that finding out that you're important to a world you have only just discovered is, jarring, right?" he asked of them. The two immediately nodded to that causing for Harry to sigh in relief.

"Good, I was afraid you'd be, well, _afraid_ of me after my, well, explosion of power I guess. I wasn't lying, part of the reason I exploded in the first place was because I was already annoyed by Draco, but most of it was from being confused, and I don't like being confused, especially concerning things that will directly affect me!"

And with that, everyone was back to normal.

The three boys continued to talk with each other, the three sitting together on one seat and delving deeper into each other's' personalities and beliefs, coming to a better understanding of themselves and each other as they awaited for the train to get to Hogwarts.

.

.

.

It was dark out when the train finally came to a stop.

The three boys heard a deep voice shouting outside of the train. and it didn't take long for them to register what it was saying.

" _Firs-years! Firs-years over here!"_

Looking at each other and nodding, the three got out of the compartment and followed the other first years out of the train to come and stand before the towering form of one Rubeus Hagrid.

Harry grinned up at the man, who grinned right on back before making his face serious again. He looked over the small crowd of children and, realizing that there were no more joining the group, called out," O'righ'! Follow me!" and turned around and started lumbering away.

The much smaller children all trotted after him as he guided them to a lake that glistened darkly in the night. There Harry spotted many small, three-four man boats that each had its own lantern hanging on a poll on the shore and, after a moment's pause to wait for everyone to gather there, Hagrid started directing children to break up into groups of threes and fours so that they could get on the boats.

Harry went with Ron and Neville, and another boy who introduced himself as Dean Thomas who was taller than even Ron, though only by about an inch. The four boys clambered into the boat, with Harry's little feline friend jumping in with them and they set off with all the other children, Hagrid leading the way in his own boat.

The four boys watched on in increasing awe at the sight before them, the castle that was settled on the cliffside coming closer and closer and towering ever higher over them all.

It was beautiful. It, somehow, felt like _home_.

Harry closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh air, the powerful Magicks that surrounded it rushing around him, as if it were welcoming all of the little first years unto itself. Harry's body started in surprise as they passed through what could only be a barrier, upon the very threshold of the castle's shore, but that wasn't the reason for his surprise.

" _Welcome home…"_

A warmth enveloped him. It curled around him and settled over him like a comforting, oversized coat, laying heavily over his body. Words passed over him, whispering in his ears as well as settling over his body as if it were a physical force that was drawing him into its arms in an embrace.

The emerald eyed boy almost reached out and returned the hug, but was stopped as they came upon the landing they were to be getting off.

As Harry stood with his companions, carefully lifting Backie into his arms in the process, the weighted feeling surrounding him lessened some, as if it were trying to make it easier for Harry to move about. Glancing up with a quick smile of thanks, Harry got off and followed the giant of a man as he led the group of eleven year olds up some stairs and finally to a small room, that could comfortably hold all of them.

As they walked Harry spotted the figure of a woman standing before the door that stood at the end of the room. As they drew nearer the woman went from standing with her arms crossed to her hands on her hips.

She was a tall woman, her face pinched tight in a frown, her black hair was pulled back into a severe bun and she was wearing emerald robes. Looking over all of the children as they came to a stop in front of her, she allowed for her features to soften a tad, just enough to set them all at ease as she welcomed them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said with a wave of her hand, her accent one of a Scot. "I am Professor McGonagall," she tipped her head in greeting," the start-of-term feast will be beginning shortly; but before you will take your seats in the Great Hall you will be sorted into your new House. The sorting ceremony is very important as your House will be like your family while you are here. You will live together, eat together and go to classes together. Most of your free time will be spent in your Common rooms together, so learning to get along with your Housemates will be very important." She nodded her head to each of the students, her eyes carefully watching them all, though her eyes strayed on Harry, he had a feeling it was because of the fact he was holding Blackie in his arms, so he smiled up at her, which seemed to catch her off guard but she refocused her attention on the rest of the room as she continued.

"The four Houses you will be sorted into are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and has each produced its own set of outstanding wizards and witches. While at Hogwarts your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule breaking or misbehaving will lose your House points. At the end of every year the House with the most points will be rewarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope you all become a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in just a moment. I'd advise you all to smarten yourselves up while you are waiting."

Her eyes once again passed over Harry, this time though she was taking in his wild hair, though she seemed impressed at the sight of his freshly ironed clothes with nary a wrinkle to be seen.

With a pleased nod of her head she started turning towards the door," I shall return when we are ready for you." she said off her shoulder, and, with a final nod, she slipped out of the room.

The group of preteens quickly started talking to each other, the low rumble of voices a constant buzz surrounding them as they excitedly started talking with each other, each vocally wondering which of the four Houses they would end up in.

"I think I'll be a Gryffindor!" Ron stated proudly," most everyone in the Weasley family has been Gryffindor's! And there's no place I'd rather be!" he hopped up and down in his excitement, giggling for all he's worth.

Neville and Harry giggled as well, as the two of them thought about where they might end up.

"I don't think I want to be in Gryffindor…" Neville muttered, his cheeks flaming up in embarrassment and shame. Harry and Ron looked at him in curiosity, the brunette being the one to ask,

"And why's that Neville?"

Said boy shook his head, his blush burning brighter." Nhg, well, I, I don't think I'll belong there… My Gran really wants me to be like my dad and he was in Gryffindor! But, I don't fit in, in a place like that. All of them happy and courageous, and me, I'm nervous and cowardly…" he wrapped his arms around himself, the mood dropping around him.

Ron and Harry looked at each other in concern before Harry moved forwards and, with great hesitance, placed a hand on Neville's shoulder.

"It's alright Nev," he cooed soothingly, his Magic pulsing around them in comfort and safety," you're not cowardly! You haven't really had to face anything that would call on your fight, flight or freeze instincts yet and you haven't had to make any hard decisions that say whether you're a coward or courageous either way! So I think you should wait on passing that judgement until something happens that justifies it, yeah?" Harry murmured comfortingly, his Magic moving around Neville from where Harry was touching him.

The flow of Harry's Magic was addicting, Neville soon discovered as it helped soothe and calm his own that had started to work itself up into a frenzy. It felt nice, he mused, as he started standing taller, bringing himself to his full height, which was just an inch or two shorter than Ron himself.

Harry's Magic made a final swirl around Neville before retreating back to Harry, only a small tendril remaining, one that neither Harry nor Neville took notice of, especially as they were a bit preoccupied with the arrival of others in the room.

Small yelps of surprise and short screams greeted the children standing in the front causing for everyone to turn around and look for what all of the hub bub is about.

And it was with great shock that they were greeted with the floating figures of pale, almost white, and nearly see through people, all dressed in even more outdated clothing than what the people in Diagon Alley wore.

These beings that couldn't be anything other than ghosts were talking to each other, not paying any mind to the crowd of children they were scaring the living daylights out of. There were two in particular that seemed to be deep in an argument, one of them being a rotund friar and the other being a well dressed man with shackles weighing him down and silvery bloodstains on his clothes.

"I just think he deserves a second chance is all! After all, everyone deserves a second chance!" the friar spoke with gusto, though his companion seemed to be unmoved. He shook his head,

"No, he has had many chances over time, hundreds in fact, but he has still remained the same, and he is still the little troublemaker he was before. No, he does not deserve another chance to ruin a perfectly good feast, Friar."

And so with a resolute nod, the bloody ghost zoomed on ahead, only pausing for a moment to take in the children waiting in front of the door and politely nodding to them before phasing through the door.

Sounds of awe passed over all of the children as they took in the sight, many of them even striking up conversations with the other ghosts, but Harry was more interested in observing them and so merely listened on, even as the friar and another of the ghosts came over to speak with them.

"Hello there!" the friar called with a jolly grin," I'm the House ghost for Hufflepuff, you may call me Friar! I wish you all well in the upcoming Sorting, maybe one of you will end up in my House?" he said with a sly grin.

But the ghost next to his shook his head with a laugh," no, no! You must come to my House!" tipping his head he grinned all the wider," I am Nearly Headless Nick! I am the House ghost of Gryffindor, and I must say that you sir," he said, pointing at Ron," must be a Weasley, and there have been very few of them who has been anywhere but _my_ House, so I know at least that I'll have one new first year!" he gave a jolly laugh before he and the friar started bickering playfully, floating away and through the door, as did the other ghosts.

The room fell silent once the ghosts left, which was just in time as McGonagall entered at just that moment.

She took in the shocked silence of the room, Harry catching her holding back a smile that had started to twitch her lips, instead forcing it into her severe frown." Alright everyone, we are ready for you!" and with a small tilt of her head she turned around and opened the doors for everyone to walk through." Follow me." She called over her shoulder, setting a brisk pace for the small eleven year olds to follow.

It didn't take long for them to get to where the feast was taking place. It was a room that McGonagall called ' _The Great Hall'_ and it was was great; there were four long tables running the length of the room and the ceiling looked like it was outside, something of which one of the girls in the group remarked about being an enchantment she had read about.

But Harry was a little more interested in the people who sat at the end of the hall on a raised platform, which was there for them to be able to watch all of the children at once, Harry guessed, so he also came to the conclusion that they must be the teachers.

He glanced around and took notice of the children and teens sitting at the tables, all of whom, except maybe for the ones who had green lining on their clothes, looked excited at their arrival. Harry also spotted the twins, who he waved at excitedly, the two boys giving a just as excited wave back before everything came to a halt.

They had reached another raised platform, this one being lower than where the teachers sat. McGonagall swiftly walked onto the platform and retrieved a stool and a tattered hat, both of which she set down, the tattered hat resting atop the stool.

"I'm going to _kill_ Fred and George…" Harry heard Ron mutter, causing for him to snicker into Blackie's head in order to muffle it.

But nothing else was said as, with a shock to all of the first years, the tattered hat wiggled itself into an upright position, and, an even bigger shock, a crease in the middle of it opened up like a mouth, and it started to _sing_!

" _Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in you head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you're a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folks use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

There was applause, to which the hat bowed to, before with a snap Professor McGonagall pulled out long roll of parchment and stated in a loud voice," we will now begin the Sorting! When I call your name, come forwards and sit on this stool. The Sorting Hat will be placed on your head and you will be sorted Abbot, Hannah!"

A girl with blonde hair and pigtails quickly made her way to the stool, stumbling some as she did so. It didn't take her long to climb onto the stool and sit down, the hat following the action.

The Hall remained silent as the seconds ticked by, but it wasn't long before, with a great shout of glee, the Hat called out," Hufflepuff!"

The four Houses let out applause at that, the least excited being the Slytherin's, while the most excited were, of course, Hufflepuff. Hannah jumped off the stool and raced over to her new House and was warmly welcomed to the table.

And from there, the Sorting continued. At first it looked like the Hat sorted in teams of two, as the child after Hannah, a Susan Bones, was sorted into Hufflepuff, with the next two, Terry Boot and Mandy Brocklehurst, being sorted into Ravenclaw. That line of thinking was proven to be wrong when Lavender Brown was sorted into Gryffindor, and Millicent Bulstrode was sorted into Slytherin.

The timing was all different as well. Some took a very little time, like Hannah who only took a couple seconds, but some, like the girl who had remarked on the enchanted ceiling, one Hermione Granger, took some time as the hat seemed to deliberate on where to put her.

Finally it called out a merry "Gryffindor!" and the girl hopped down from the stool to the applause of her new Housemates.

"Longbottom, Neville!" was called next. The boy gulped loudly in nervousness, causing for Harry to reach a hand forward and grab Neville's own, giving it a squeeze of comfort, something that seemed to help the boy as he lost his nervous posture-for the most part-and stood tall as he walked up to the stool.

A small bit of time passed as everyone waited with bated breath to learn where Neville would end up. But it was with a mighty cheer that the hall burst into as the hat called out "Gryffindor!".

Neville pulled the hat from his head and stumbled his way to the Gryffindor table, where he was swiftly pulled up and onto the bench where the elder students around him clapped him on the back and welcomed him to the House.

Harry cheered with the rest of the hall, happy for his friend before his attention was pulled back to the sorting, where "Malfoy, Draco!" and just been called out. Curious, Harry wondered where the Malfoy would end up, having an idea that it would be Slytherin, as he remembered Ron saying that the Malfoy's were a family of Slytherin's.

And not two seconds later it was proven to be true, the hat calling out a cheery "Slytherin!" while barely having been placed on Draco's head.

This made Harry wonder if Draco really belonged there; was the hat really able to tell which House he belonged in without being fully placed on his head? Or was the hat assuming that he belonged there because of his family?

Shaking his head he forced himself to focus on the sorting at hand, planning on deliberating on the question later.

Eight more people were sorted, each of them being catalogued by Harry, who was keeping an eye on who was in which House, before with an inhale of breath, Professor McGonagall called out.

"Potter, Harry!"

Dead silence followed the announcement, a silence Harry took in in order to calm his nerves before he resolutely made his way to the stool.

Whispers broke out around him at his movement, Harry catching snippets of ' _Harry Potter'_ and ' _the Boy-Who-Lived'_ and ' _which House will he be sorted into?'_.

But Harry ignored them as he held Blackie within his arms, not thinking to put the feline down as he walked up to the stool. He had started to climb onto it when a short voice spoke to him.

"Ahem, Mister Potter, you cannot bring your pet with you to be sorted."

Looking up at McGonagall, Harry stared at her blankly for a moment before, with a shrug of his shoulders, walked on back to the group of kids and handed Blackie to Ron," behave," Harry instructed the cat before walking back up to the stool and sitting on it.

The hat then came down and was placed on his head. The edges of the hat sank low and covered Harry's eyes, making it so he was enshrouded in darkness.

" _Hmm,"_ a voice hummed in Harry's mind, causing for him to twitch in reaction," _you have quite the mind here…"_ the voice let out a chuckle as the fabric around his head settled more firmly about him.

" _Is that so sir?"_ Harry thought back to the voice, causing for it to chuckle good naturedly.

" _Ah ha! It is lad, it is! Now, let's see here… Yes, yes! You have a strong thirst for knowledge! You also have a great sense of loyalty to those whom you have grown close to… that Vampire fellow seems to be a good chap, though be careful about letting just anyone suck your blood; it'd be easy for a Vampire with impure intentions to take advantage of that! Now, what else… aha! What cunning you have here! What ambition-learning everything you can about the Magical world in such little time? What drive! A wonderful blend of Slytherin and Gryffindor traits! You want to learn, but you don't want to cheat to do it, neither are you willing to betray or use just anyone in order to achieve your goals, hm, how thoughtful of you!"_ humming again, the Hat mumbled a couple unintelligable words as it sorted through his thoughts and personality, his desires and passions.

Harry waited as patiently as he could as the Hat kept mumbling, seeming to be having a hard time in picking which House Harry belonged in, but that patience was quickly waning.

" _You have the desire to learn and obtain knowledge of a Ravenclaw, but not the single-minded mentality that they tend to possess nor the want to gain knowledge just for the sake of it. Hm, you have the ambition and cunning of a Slytherin, but not the willingness to use any and everyone for your gain, nor the self-preserving nature that those folk have. You admire and strive for loyalty and hard work, but are slow to trust and weary of all those you make contact with. And Gryffindor… you are brave of heart and strong of will, but you make a conscious effort to keep your emotions in check, so much so that they rarely take control of you-that bit on the train notwithstanding, you were under stress after all-but where to put you? You could be placed in any of the Houses and flourish, your resourcefulness would lend a great help in being able to adapt to any situation, to any House you are placed in!_

" _But!"_ the Hat stated seriously, almost as if it were coming to its final conclusion. " _But! Hufflepuff won't work for you as you are, they rely on physical and emotional comfort, but you aren't in a place to receive the overabundance that they give out. Neither will Ravenclaw work, as, with the way it is now, it won't foster your thirst of true knowledge and how to remain on track with all that you want to learn. Hmm, that means it comes down to Slytherin and Gryffindor… both would be able to accommodate your thirst for knowledge and want to be more, but which would be the best for you…"_

Harry cleared his throat in order to catch Hat's attention. " _If you will sir, could I maybe say something?"_ he asked with as much politeness he could muster-his patience was running thinner by the minute!

Hmm his agreement, Harry continued on," _I think it'd be for the best if I were to go to Gryffindor."_

" _Hmm, and why is that young Potter?"_ the Hat asked with amusement. Harry couldn't help but smile as he explained himself.

" _Well, y'see sir, I've been told that Slytherin were some of the biggest supporters of Voldemort, and the opposite of Slytherin seems to be Gryffindor! I want to gain knowledge, yes, but I don't want to stand out! But being the Boy-Who-Lived will make me stand out enough, and if even a modicum of the rumors of Slytherin are true, then it'd be within my best interests to not go there, as many Death Eaters children are there, and while I don't believe that they are their parents and so therefore they must be Death Eaters in training, old people don't change their ways all that easily, so it's not much of a stretch to say that one of them would tell their children to do something in regards to me. That and I have a weird feeling that everyone expects me to go to Gryffindor, call it a hunch, and since I don't want to stand out, going to Gryffindor would probably be my best bet, would you agree?"_

There was a long pause as the Hat digested what Harry had said, a pause that was just about to snap Harry's threadbare patience. He was just starting to fidget in place as the impatient energy started building up in him when the Hat started to laugh. Not normal laughter either, great, big, bellowing laughter that Harry could have _sworn_ the rest of the hall was hearing as well.

" _Well, mister Potter, you are quite correct! All of your reasoning is very sound! And also, if it would ease your mind, your parents were also both in Gryffindor, the Potter's having been in that House for the last several generations! So I do believe, that the place for you is-"_

"Gryffindor!"


End file.
